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Banana Workers Back On StrikeLabor Alerts: a service of Campaign for Labor RightsPosted May 15, 2002
In this alert:
[ Information in this Alert provided by US/LEAP, www.usleap.org, and ACERCA, www.acerca.org ]
ECUADORIAN BANANA WORKERS BACK ON STRIKEThe Fight Against Race to the Bottom in Banana Industry Takes Critical Turn. In perhaps the most important struggle in the Latin American banana sector in over a decade, Ecuadorian banana workers walked off seven plantations on May 6, 2002 to protest the firing of three union activists. The firings came shortly after the workers achieved a major victory when the Ecuadorian Labor Minister approved legal recognition for three unions representing the workers on these plantations. Approval of the unions, the first in many years, came immediately after a devastating report of the Ecuadorian banana industry released by Human Rights Watch that found wide-spread violations of worker rights, including extensive anti-union behavior that has effectively blocked the formation of banana unions in Ecuador for the past twenty years (see "HRW Report Released" section below). Ecuador is the world's largest banana exporter and its low-wage, no-benefit, non-union industry is driving down the wages and benefits of banana workers throughout Latin America. The plantations, known as the Alamos plantations, are owned by the Noboa Group, which owns the Bonita brand and is run by one of the richest men in Latin America, Alvaro Noboa Ponton. The workers at the Alamos plantations are demanding that all of their fired co-workers be reinstated, payment for overtime work done, and payment of social security benefits, healthcare, and fair wages. These recent firings (of three union activists) come just after 124 union supporters were fired after a day-long strike on the Alamos plantations in February to demand the recognition of their union. Instead of negotiating with the unions' demands, the workers faced firings, transfers, and harassment, which led to the current strike. The 124 fired workers still have not been reinstated to their jobs.
TAKE ACTION NOW - Support Striking Banana Workers! 1) Contact Costco (by phone or fax) ** NOTE: If you are a Costco member, make sure to note that in your letter. ~ Contact: James D. Sinegal, President, CEO, Costco Wholesale Corporation, 999 Lake Dr., Issaquah, WA 98027. Phone: 425-313-8100; Fax: 425-313-8103. ~ Please send us a copy of your letter, or let us know you called: clr@clrlabor.org mailto:clr@clrlabor.org , 202-232-5002. Sample Letter:
Dear James Sinegal, 2) Contact the Ecuadorian Labor Ministry (by email) Contact: Ab. Martin Insua Chag, Minister of Labor & Human Resources in Ecuador. E-mail: mintrab@accessinter.net. Copy your letter to the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador: Peter Harding, Embassy of the United States in Ecuador. Email: HardingPX@state.gov.
BANANA UNIONS GAIN LEGAL RECOGNITION, ORGANIZING SPREADSThe Ecuadorian Labor Ministry granted legal recognition to three unions, one for each of the contracting companies that manage the Alamos plantations, Cliades, Beducor, and Nenro, on April 26th. The first application for legal recognition was denied in March when filed under the Noboa Company, which is the sole customer of the Alamos plantations and owner of the land. Recognition was denied on the grounds that the workers don't work directly for Noboa. However, when the union applied for recognition under the contracting companies, the legal recognition was granted. The fight on the Alamos plantations has inspired similar organizing on other plantations in Ecuador. 500 workers went out on strike at another Noboa plantation, Hacienda Julia, on April 1st with the same list of grievances. Reports indicate that the striking workers occupied the roads in front of the home and bank of Alvaro Noboa Ponton. Also, 200 workers from the Danish-owned Rio Culebra plantation walked out in mid-April to demand, among other things, recognition of a union, minimum wage, social security, access to medical treatment, tools, and decent working conditions.
SOLIDARITY LETTER BOOSTS MORALEAs part of the campaign to support the Noboa workers, an appeal to endorse a letter of support of the banana union in Ecuador received over 76 organizational endorsements from the U.S., Canada, and across Europe in 7 days! The letter boosted the morale of the workers and was published in two local newspapers on April 19th, 2002. Thanks to those of you who signed on to the letter! (A full list of signatories and the text of the letter can be found on the US/LEAP website at www.usleap.org.)
ATROCITIES IN THE BANANA SECTOR REVEALEDA United Kingdom delegation of trade unionists and worker rights activists organized by Banana Link visited the Alamos banana workers just as the strike began on May 6th. One delegate reports an interview with a banana worker supporting the strike:
"...one time they sent me to enbanderillar (directing planes with flags) without any protection. When it's fumigation time the plane passes where people are eating and all this liquid reaches the food and consequently the worker. We've said to the boss that this is bad but he doesn't pay any attention to anything the worker says." The delegate also gives reports of the living and working conditions of the Noboa workers:
"The housing is particularly bad - 2m x 2m rooms with two sets of bunk bed, sleeping a total of eight people, are normal. There are no mattresses - workers have improvised with the "Bonita" cardboard boxes not only as bedding but as storage as there is no other furniture. Families also live in these rooms - one "house" I visited had a child asleep on the dirt floor.... There were many testimonies regarding ill health, including blindness.... There is no medical attention on the farm.... Workers reported cases of sexual harassment at the hands of administrators.... Wages are way below the legal minimum."
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORT RELEASEDOn April 25th, Human Rights Watch, a non-profit based in New York City that conduct regular, systematic investigations of human rights abuses world-wide, released an independent report on human rights violations in Ecuador's banana industry. The report begins with a quote from Martin Insua, Minister of Labor and Human Resources in Ecuador, "[Banana workers] are fired if they try to unionize...There is not a company that would not fire them...Temporary workers are [hired] so as not to have problems with unions." The report focused on child labor and neglect of the right to organize and has recommendations for better enforcement of local labor laws regarding anti-union discrimination, the employment of children, and access to education for children. The report can be found online at http://hrw.org/reports/2002/ecuador/ Questions and requests for the report should go to Human Rights Watch at 1630 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20009 or by phone at 202-612-4321. Also, the International Union of Foodworkers has a favorable response to the report on their website at www.iuf.org.
DEMANDING DEMOCRACY: FAST TRACK LOCKDOWN IN VERMONTGlobal Justice activists known as the Burlington (VT) Seven were arrested yesterday on charges of unlawful trespass, resisting arrest, and hindering arrest after a four hour lock-down sit-in at US Senator Jim Jeffords' office in Burlington, Vermont. After being processed at the Burlington police department, transported to the Chittenden County Correctional Facility, and released on over $4000.00 bail (collectively). The resisting and hindering charges were dropped at their arraignment today. The activists entered the office at 3:00 PM yesterday to protest the Trade Promotional Authority (TPA) bill, currently on the floor of the US Senate. TPA, formerly known as "Fast Track," passed the House by one vote. Fast Track would allow the executive branch of the government (President G. W. Bush and US trade representative Robert Zoellick) to negotiate trade agreements with minimal input from the US Congress. TPA would require the legislative branch to pass multi-lateral or bilateral agreements with an 'up or down' vote, limit discussion of trade deals to 20 hours in the House and Senate, and prevent Congress from making amendments to trade deals. The push for renewal of Fast Track authority is part of advancing the Bush administration's corporate agenda, and would ease the implementation of the pending FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) and proposed CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement). Citizens around Vermont have been pressuring Jeffords to vote against Fast Track for months. There have been massive letter writing and call-in campaigns, and in January the Senator told activists at his book signing that he would indeed vote against Fast Track. Weeks later his Vermont office staff communicated that he intended to vote in favor of Fast Track, and had always supported the bill. The Burlington Seven said that a civil disobedience was the appropriate response, as all other avenues had been exhausted. On a speaker phone conference call with Senator Jeffords yesterday, the locked-down activists asked why he could possibly believe that free trade was positive for Vermont. He replied only that he knew free trade was beneficial to the state, providing no substantive answer. After 5:00 PM the police were called in to remove and arrest the activists. Shortly thereafter, those not locked down (the support team) were threatened with arrest and chose to stand outside the office where they could continue to observe the lock-down. Five activists walked out with the arresting officers and were loaded into cruisers. Two chose not to comply and were put in wheel chairs. One of the two, Burlington based Action for Social & Ecological Justice (ASEJ) Campaigner Jason Ford, gave passionate statements to the press as he was wheeled out to the street in handcuffs: "This is what we have to do! This is what democracy has come to in this country! Fast Track is about free trade agreements, and free trade is destroying communities and environments! Listen to me! This is what it has come to!" The seven were arraigned this morning pleading "not-guilty" to the charge of unlawful trespass. Conditions of release included a mandate that these seven individuals not enter the premises of Senator Jim Jeffords' offices in Burlington, Montpelier, or Rutland, Vermont. Their trail date has been set for July 3rd, 2002 in Burlington. ~ For further information call, 802-863-0571, or visit: www.indymedia |
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