Lucas Benitez vividly remembers the day his boss nearly hit him. Benitez, a tomato picker from Immokalee, Fla., was told to redo a job he had already completed, and his objection risked personal harm. However, compared to the conditions under which some other tomato pickers say they work, Benitez was lucky.

Five years after this incident, Benitez is a member of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. The group is traveling around the United States in an effort to inform consumers of the conditions under which the tomato pickers work. Last Wednesday, the tour stopped at Harvard University for a presentation in Boylston Hall.

Speaking through a translator, Benitez described the struggles of tomato pickers. Their poor wages amount to an annual salary of $7,500 to $8,000 a year, a figure that has not changed since 1978. In addition, the workers do not have insurance or benefits, are required to work overtime without additional pay, are not allowed vacations and do not have the right to assemble without risking the loss of their jobs.

The CIW is taking this information to the consumers and asking for their help in getting the conditions changed.

“We’re not here to ask for your support. We’re here to ask for your alliance to put an end to this exploitation,” Benitez told the audience of about 30 students and members of the community. “When you all become aware consumers and tell them you’re not eating there anymore, they’ll have to listen to you.”

Besides targeting the college-aged market, the tour had yet another reason to stop at Harvard. D. Ronald Daniel, a member of the Board of Directors of Yum! Brands (Taco Bell’s parent company) is a graduate of Harvard University and a member of the Harvard Corporation, the university’s highest governing body.

Jessica Fragola, a junior at Harvard, is a member of the Progressive Student Labor Movement and a northeast regional organizer for the United Students Against Sweatshops. She said she encourages students to write letters to Daniel in an effort to get him to put pressure on the company to change their policies for tomato pickers.

“His word, because he owns a lot of stock, would mean a lot to Taco Bell,” said Fragola.

Although Fragola said no one has currently made formal plans to speak with Daniel, a few students have already written him letters.

Howard Zinn, a retired professor of political science from Boston University and author of “The People’s History of the United States,” opened the CIW’s presentation by providing historical background on the struggles of migrant workers.

“When slavery presumably ended after the Civil War and the 14th, 15th, and 16th amendments were passed, it didn’t really mean anything,” Zinn said.

The field workers have been denied benefits and equality for all of the country’s history, Zinn said.

Zinn compared the CIW’s campaign to Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, who boycotted wine grape-growers in the 1960s.

“They organized, and they won the support of the nation in a national boycott,” Zinn said. “If enough powerless people join together, a new power is created.”

Zinn called upon the public to ensure further progress in their cause.

“[The CIW is] depending on our support,” he said. “They’re depending on community support, on our solidarity.”

He said America promises a good life to all of its citizens, but it will not necessarily deliver until people take action and demand their rights.

For Benitez and the other members of the CIW, this means gaining respect and dignity from their employers, as well as meeting with Taco Bell executives to discuss the implementation of a Code of Conduct for tomato pickers, which includes an increase in their pay.

For now, the CIW is focusing on the idea of a “penny per pound,” meaning they would be paid an additional cent for each pound of tomatoes picked.

“Once that would be on the table, we would see that as opening the door for more negotiation,” Benitez said.

Since Taco Bell makes about $5 billion per year, Benitez said the company could easily pay their workers more and barely notice the change.

The CIW has been boycotting for about a year-and-a-half, and said it has seen progress thanks to their efforts. Taco Bell had initially refused to meet with the CIW.

“We’ve already had two meetings with the executives of the company,” Benitez said. “There’s been a lot of pressure put on them. We haven’t yet succeeded in getting them to oblige what we’re looking for.”

Julia Perkins, a member of Student Farmworker Alliance, which supports the CIW’s struggle, said they will make progress.

“We know that Taco Bell is going to listen to us, because who else are they going to listen to?” Perkins asks.