[USFT] {westcoast} bananas.

[nina jenkins]

thought this was very interesting.
nina

Thousands march against Dow in Nicaragua

Former Banana Plantation Workers Demonstrate In Nicaragua


DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
March 2, 2005 5:40 p.m.

MANAGUA (AP)--About 1,000 former banana plantation employees
demonstrated outside Nicaragua's National Assembly building in the
capital Wednesday, demanding compensation payments for exposure to
banned pesticides.

The workers arrived in the capital, Managua, after a 70-mile march
from western Chinandega province.

In 2002, a Nicaraguan judge ordered three U.S. companies to pay $490
million to 583 banana workers allegedly affected by the use of the
banned pesticide Nemagon, but the case has since been transferred to
U.S. courts.

The alleged victims sued Dow Chemical Co. (DOW); Shell Oil Co., a unit
of Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD,SC); and Standard Fruit Co. in 1998 for
using Nemagon in the banana fields of western Nicaragua.

Nemagon contains the pesticide dibromochloropropane, and repeated
exposure has been shown to cause cancer and sterility in laboratory
animals and an increased risk of cancer in humans. The U.S. government
banned the pesticide in 1977.

In 1993, more than 16,000 banana plantation workers from Costa Rica,
Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the
Philippines filed a class-action lawsuit in Texas against U.S. fruit
and chemical companies for alleged illnesses as a result of exposure
to chemicals.

Companies including Chiquita Brands International (CQB), Dole Food Co.
(DOL) and Del Monte Foods Co. (DLM), agreed to pay a total of $41.5
million in 1997 to those who proved they were sterile.

=======================================
Timothy J Krupnik
International Agricultural Development (UC Davis). 
Department of Environmental Studies (UC Santa Cruz)
Emphasis: Agricultural Ecology
Tim at ecologycenter.org, tkrupnik at ucsc.edu, tjkrupni at ucdavis.edu,
tkrupnik at sumawa.org
Department of Environmental Studies
University of California, Santa Cruz
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
=======================================
If change is to come, then, it will have to come from the outside. It
will have to come from the margins. ---Wendell Berry


On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 18:26:11 -0800, Aleah Anne Lawrence-Pine
<aleahann at ucsc.edu> wrote:
> This is a national call to action.
> 
>    USFT'ers and interested students alike who demand
> trade justice, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has
> kicked off there 2005 Taco Bell Truth Tour. Take action in
> your local community in the days prior to March 12th to
> show Yum! brands that the Coalition has grown and is
> gaining momentum! In the last four days the CIW has made
> stops in:
> Atlanta, Nashville, Montgomery, Memphis, Cincinnati, St.
> Louis, Dayton, Cleveland, Bloomington, and Indianapolis
> rallying the masses to demand that Taco Bell/Yum! brands
> take responsibility for how how their tomatos are
> produced.
> 
>    From now until March 12th, actions are taking place in
> every corner of the country to raise awareness about the
> Taco Bell boycott.  Join USFT in the largest student -
> faith - worker coalition in the nation by planning an
> action at your local Taco Bell.
> 
> An 'action' can be as big or as small as you can handle,
> every bit is just as important as the next! If you and a
> couple friends go to a T.B. on the 10th and flier for an
> hour that is huge!!! Local Taco Bell managers HAVE TO
> report actions like this up the chain of corporate
> command. At upper levels of management (regional managers)
> these 'yellow flags' add up and push Taco Bell and Yum!
> closer to the bargaining table. The more actions,
> the more 'yellow flags,' the sooner change will manifest.
> Be sure to include USFT on your flyers or signs/banners
> at your event.  (USFT supports domestic Fair Trade, or
> USFT supports the CIW for example)
> 
>    The CIW and Comercio Justo! (UCSC student
> organization) can help with materials and advice! contact
> us if you have questions or concerns.
> 
>    CIW email - workers at ciw-online.org phone- (239)
> 657-8311
>    Comercio Justo! email- duchnmex at ucsc.edu phone- (831)
> 423
> 2154 (Jesse)
> 
>    Get fluent about the boycott!!! go to
> www.ciw-online.org
> 
>    If you know of a person or group in your area that
> might organize around this forward this email to them. If
> you are going to have an action take a camera and be sure
> to tell the CIW and USFT about it. They love to see the
> movement in action and we want to post your action shots
> on our website.
> 
>    Lets make this thing big, in solidarity,
>  CIW & Comercio Justo! & You
> 
> p.s. Educate! Agitate! Organize!
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>