> --------- Forwarded message ----------
> Because Del Monte still refuses to meet the workers' demands, we are
> taking the activism up a notch and pushing an international campaign. In
> the works is a grassroots campaign to call local groceries to ask them to
> stop stocking Del Monte Bananas for two weeks, a letter writing campaign
> to both the Guatemalan embassy and Del Monte, and a demonstration at a
> port on the West coast that takes in Del Monte bananas. The
> demonstration in Miami will be a key part of this campaign.
> The campaign is backed by the Geneva-based International Union of
> Foodworkers, the AFL-CIO, European NGOs, the U.S./Labor Education in the
> Americas Project, the Campaign for Labor Rights, NISGUA and other
> religious, human rights and trade union groups.
> I can send more detailed information, as well. Please let me know if
> you think you can inform others about this action and/or attend yourself.
>
> Thanks,
> Joan
> US Labor Education in the Americas Project
> P.O. Box 268-290
> Chicago, IL 60626
> 773-262-6502
> Fax: 773-262-6602
> usleapja at mindspring.com
>
> CENTRAL AMERICAN LABOR MOVEMENT IN JEOPARDY
>
>
> PROTEST FOR DEL MONTE BANANA WORKERS!
>
>
> When: Dec. 15th, 4:00 p.m.
>
> Where:Del Monte International Headquarters. Concentrate at the park in
> front of the Coral Gables Women's Club 1001 East Ponce de Leon Blvd -2
> blocks south of SW 8th St. and 1 block west of Douglas Rd. (SW 37th).
>
> Why: After Del Monte illegally fired over 900 workers from three of its
> plantations in Morales, Guatemala, the banana union, SITRABI, planned a
> legal walkout to protest the illegal firings. The walk-out was thwarted
> when 200 armed men with high caliber and assault weapons surrounded the
> union headquarters. At gun point, the armed men forced five executive
> committee leaders and over 20 union members to resign from the union,
> call off the strike through a radio announcement, and leave their homes
> under the threat of death.
>
>
> A SITRABI worker will speak about the campaign and his personal
> experiences in the ordeal.
>
>
> WORKERS' DEMAND: Negotiate an acceptable resolution with the union.
>
>
> There will be no holiday season for the banana workers in Guatemala who
> have illegally lost their jobs and have been threatened with death when
> they tried to protest.
>
>
> The workers have asked for international support!
>
>
> Contact: Jonathan Fried, 305-758-7182, jfried1715 at aol.com
>
> Note: Fresh Del Monte Produce is a different company than Del Monte
> Foods, which produces canned goods.
>
>
> For more background information, contact Joan Axthelm at the US/LEAP,
> 773-262-6502, Fax: 773-262-6602, email: usleapja at mindspring.com
>
> Organizations involved in the international campaign include the
> Geneva-based International Union of Foodworkers, the AFL-CIO, members of
> the European Banana Action Network, the U.S./Labor Education in the
> Americas Project, the Campaign for Labor Rights, Witness for Peace,
> NISGUA, and others.
>
> DEL MONTE BANANA UNION LEADERS FORCED AT GUNPOINT TO QUIT AND FLEE FOR
> THEIR LIVES IN GUATEMALA; U.S. THREATENS TRADE SUSPENSION; UN HOLDS PRESS
> CONFERENCE
>
> December 6, 1999
>
>
> SUMMARY
>
> Banana union leaders in Guatemala leading a fight against Fresh Del Monte
> Produce's illegal firing of nearly 1,000 workers in September were
> surrounded at their union headquarters by 200 heavily armed men on
> October 13, threatened with death, and forced to resign and abandon their
> homes. Details of the harrowing experience were kept quite for a week
> until the leaders were able to secure safe houses in Guatemala City along
> with their families.
>
>
> Del Monte has now contracted out the plantations to so-called
> "independent" suppliers and allowed in replacement workers. The new
> workers are making 20% less of what the union workers made, and do not
> have benefits gained by the union in its 50-years of existence, including
> housing, health care, and schools for their children.
>
>
> A local Del Monte Guatemala supervisor was seen talking to men associated
> with the incident just hours before and Del Monte initially accepted the
> forced resignations until retracting under international pressure. Del
> Monte has denied any responsibility for the incident.
>
>
> The company has taken a hard line against the workers. Del Monte has
> refused to negotiate an acceptable resolution of the conflict and
> negotiations with the union were broken off November 12. The company has
> shown no sympathy for the workers who were forced to flee their homes and
> has refused to reinstate the workers even though the Guatemalan Labor
> Minister took out a full page ad in the Guatemalan newspapers to denounce
> the incident and to declare that the firings were a violation of the
> union's collective bargaining agreement and therefore illegal.
>
>
> The union offered the company a proposal agreeing to accept the
> "independent" contractors under the condition that previous benefits
> gained by the union would be maintained. These benefits include housing,
> education for the children of employees, and healthcare. The company took
> two weeks to respond to the proposal. The proposal was denied.
>
>
> The U.S. and U.N. have had strong reactions to the violence and firings.
> The U.S. government has threatened to put Guatemala's trade benefits on
> probation unless the Guatemalan government acts to end decades of
> impunity by arresting those responsible for the violent intimidation of
> the Del Monte union leadership. The U.N. agency monitoring implementation
> of the Peace Accords in Guatemala describes the incident as one of the
> most serious violations of human rights in post-war Guatemala and in a
> highly unusual move, held a press conference to press the government to
> investigate and arrest those responsible.
>
>
> OTHER ACTIONS:
>
> 1) Call one (or more) of your local grocery stores to see if it stocks
> Del Monte bananas. If so, ask to speak to the produce manager and ask
> him/her to stop stocking Del Monte bananas for the next two weeks as a
> way to pressure Fresh Del Monte to negotiate an acceptable resolution.
> Don't forget to tell us you did this! Contact Joan Axthelm at US/LEAP by
> email at usleapja at mindspring.com.
>
> 2) Contact Fresh Del Monte Produce: Urge the company to negotiate an
> acceptable resolution with the union. Mr. Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh, Chief
> Executive Officer, Fresh Del Monte Produce, 800 Douglas Entrance, North
> Tower, 12th Floor, Coral Gables, FL 33134. Tel: 305-520-8400; Fax:
> 305-442-1059.
>
> 3) Contact the Guatemalan Embassy in Washington: Urge the government to
> immediately prosecute those responsible for the violent intimidation of
> union leaders. Ambassador William Stixrud, Embassy of the Republic of
> Guatemala, 2200 R St., N.W., Washington, DC 20008. Tel: 202-745-4952 Fax:
> 202-745-1908 Email: embaguat at sysnet.net