November 13, 2007
by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE – Anti-Slavery International, a non-governmental organization based in Great Britain, has announced that it is presenting its 2007 Anti-Slavery Award to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a Florida-based farmworkers rights group that has been strongly supported by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

The award, which was instituted in 1991 to draw attention to the continuing problem of slavery in the world today and to provide recognition for long-term, courageous campaigning by organizations or individuals in the country's most affected, will be given to the CIW at a ceremony in London on Nov. 21.

The PC(USA) nominated the CIW for the prestigious award, said the Rev. Noelle Damico, who heads the denomination's "Fair Food" campaign, a project of the Presbyterian Hunger Program.

The CIW is best-known for its consumer boycotts that have resulted in groundbreaking agreements with Yum! Brands (the parent company of Taco Bell) and McDonalds to improve wages and working conditions in Florida's produce fields.

The PC(USA) was among the first U.S. religious groups to support the Taco Bell boycott – the 2002 General Assembly endorsed it – and the celebration of the March 2005 settlement between Yum! Brands and the CIW was held at the Presbyterian Center here.

Anti-Slavery International is recognizing the farmworkers group for what many consider even more important work: documenting the cases of trafficking Mexican and Central American farmworkers for forced labor. CIW's efforts have resulted in prosecution of six slavery cases in the past decade and the liberation of over a thousand farmworkers held in debt bondage.

In announcing the award, Anti-Slavery International said "the award offers the CIW a chance to gain international recognition for their work and to highlight the existence of slavery in developed countries in the year that we are commemorating 200 years since the abolition of the slave trade in British colonies."

Having secured agreements with Yum! Brands and McDonalds, the CIW is now pursuing an agreement with Burger King. Damico will speak at a march and rally at Burger King's headquarters in Miami on Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

Presbyterian News Service