11 October 2007
 
Presentation of £74,000 gift from Glastonbury festival to Banana Link to help secure fair deal for Latin American banana workers

 

 

Glastonbury Organisers Michael Eavis and Melvin Benn together with Bert Schouwenburg from Battersea and Wandsworth trades union council (BWTUC) will present cheque to Banana Link.

Michael Eavis from Glastonbury Festival, Melvin Benn from Festival Republic and Bert Schouwenburg from BWTUC will present a cheque for £74,000 to Jacqui Mackay, National co-ordinator and Alistair Smith, international co-ordinator of Banana Link at a photocall presentation at 12.00 noon on Tuesday 16th October 2007 at the Tangley Room, Paddington Hilton Hotel, 146 Praed Street London W2 1EE. Following the photo call the participants will be available to answer questions.

This gift is one of the donations to good causes from Glastonbury festival 2007. The money to Banana Link will be used to fund the 'Union to Union' programme which meets the costs of employing and deploying 14 trade union organisers in the banana industry in the 6 Latin America countries of Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. The aim of the programme is to assist the banana workers to unionise so that they can represent themselves in talks with their employers and the supermarkets in the EU that buy their produce.

Bert Schouwenburg of Battersea and Wandsworth Trades Union Council (BWTUC) said, "This generous gift from the Glastonbury festival will be used by trade unions in 6 countries in Latin America to unionise workers in the banana industry to secure an end to their exploitation and to help them negotiate with the supermarket chains in Britain to ensure that the prices paid for bananas are fair and enable them to have a decent standard of living.

Jacqui Mackay of Banana Link said, "This is an extraordinary act of international solidarity between people at either end of the banana supply chain illustrating the key role that British trade unions have to play in poverty alleviation in Latin America and the rest of the developing world."

Ends

Contact: Bert Schouwenburg of Battersea and Wandsworth Trades Union Council (BWTUC) on 07974 251764 or Steve Pryle of BWTUC on 07921 289880 or Jacqui Mackay of Banana Link on 07971 633606 or 01603 765670.

Notes to Editors:

1. Battersea & Wandsworth TUC is an Organising and campaigning trades council in South West London.  BWTUC has a full-time Organising Centre in Wandsworth and works with all the trade unions in South West London to organise workers and get them a fair deal at work. BWTUC campaigns for social and economic justice locally, nationally and internationally.
 
2. Battersea and Wandsworth Trades Union Council (BWTUC) own the Workers Beer Company which organises the bars at the Glastonbury Festival and works with Glastonbury Festival and Festival Republic on the event. This year (2007) Michael Eavis and Melvin Benn have agreed that BWTUC should be able to identify recipients for some of the donations from the festival. This is the first recipient identified by BWTUC.

3. Banana Link is a small and dynamic not-for-profit co-operative, founded in 1996 that campaigns for a fair and sustainable banana trade. It works in close partnership with Latin American banana workers trade unions, small Caribbean farmers and civil society organisation in Europe and the US.  www.bananalink.org.uk