HumanTrafficking.org | United States of America NGO: Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW)

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United States of America

Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW)

Address

Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW)
P. O. Box 603
Immokalee, Florida 34143

Contact Information

Tel: 1-239-657-8311
Fax: 1-941-657-5055

Website

http://www.ciw-online.org

Email

workers@ciw-online.org

Activities

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a community-based worker organization, is committed to seeing an end to worker exploitation, especially among immigrants working in low-wage jobs throughout the state of Florida. Their members are largely Latino, Haitian, and Mayan Indian immigrants.

CIW has been instrumental in helping the Department of Justice prosecute cases of worker exploitation and human trafficking in Florida. CIW has also spearheaded a major campaign called “Boycott the Bell” in order to raise awareness about the fact that the fast food restaurant conglomerate, YUM Inc., of which Taco Bell is a part, refuses to consider raising the wages of its tomato pickers by charging 1 penny more per pound for the tomatoes it buys from Florida growers.

Lucas Benitez, Julia Gabriel, and Romeo Ramirez of the CIW received the 2003 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in recognition of their courageous work fighting modern-day slavery in the agricultural industry and their leadership of the national Taco Bell boycott.