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Dole hopes to overturn $2 billion in pesticide rulings |
24 June 2009, The Packer
Reacting to a recent ruling by a Los Angeles superior court judge,Westlake Village, Calif.-based Dole Food Co. Inc. hopes to reverse $2 billion in verdicts against it and other U.S. companies for pesticide poisoning.
On June 17, superior court judge Victoria Chaney dismissed with prejudice two lawsuits against Dole by Nicaraguan laborers claiming that the pesticide dibromochloropropane, or DBCP, made them sterile while working on Dole-contracted banana farms in the 1970s.
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Ante upped on pineapple contamination |
04 June 2009, www.reefertrends.com
Trade Union SITRAP has accused Fresh Del Monte of ignoring an order from Costa Rica’s Environment Tribunal to close down one of its pineapple operations.
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Tela Railroad Co suffers earthquake damage |
04 June 2009, http://www.reefertrends.com
While Dole’s Honduran subsidiary appears to have escaped largely unscathed by last week’s earthquake the Chiquita subsidiary has fared a lot worse.
The major problem faced by the Tela Railroad Co is the damage done to the dykes or levees that run alongside watercourses protecting the banana plantations from flooding. With the rainy season less than two months away President of Union Sitraterco is warning that unless these levees are rebuilt there will be ‘incalculable damage’ to the country’s banana production as well as communities that depend on the industry for employment. Other infrastructure such as bridges, roads and irrigation channels have also been affected.
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'Latin America remains the deadliest continent for trade unionists with over 66 murdered in 2008' |
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ITUC, June 2009
Worldwide in 2008, at least 76 labour activists were killed as a result of their actions for workers’ rights. Latin America remains the deadliest continent for trade unionists with over 66 murdered in 2008. 49 Colombian trade unionists lost their lives (including 16 union leaders, 4 of whom were women), a 25% increase over 2007. Trade unionists were also killed in Guatemala (9), Honduras (3) and Venezuela (4) among others.
Read the 2009 Annual Survey of violations of trade union rights published by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
Visit our Guatemala campaign page to learn more about the situation in the banana sector.
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PAN AP Hits Croplife on Aerial Pesticide Spraying in Davao del Sur's Banana Plantations |
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10 June 2009, Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific
Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP), an international group working towards the reduction and elimination of pesticides, criticized Croplife and the Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) for reacting negatively to a Department of Health (DOH) study and claiming that pesticides are safe to use.
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The Man from Del Monte says “No” to environmental ruling |
2 June 2009, Banana Link
The residents of the Milano community in the canton of Siquirres in Costa Rica blocked the main arterial road from the capital, San Jose to the main port, Limon where it passes through the area for seven hours on 21st May 2009. They have been protesting for over two years about contamination of their water and land by nearby plantations that produce Del Monte Gold brand pineapples.
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