8 September 2008

Abilio Castro, legal officer of ATC Chinandega rural workers'association, will recieve the hip replacement he desperately needs thanks to the incredible generosity of the London Region of the GMB. "This is an extraordinary act of solidarity along the supply chain between British and Latin American workers. GMB London Regional Secretary Ed Blissett and his colleagues met Abilio during a delegation visit to Latin America this year and are aware of the importance of Abilio's continued ability to work on behalf of his members in Nicaragua." commented Banana Link's National Coordinator, Jacqui Mackay.

The GMB London Region have worked closely with banana workers' unions in Latin America since 2002 when a member first visited Ecuador and saw the terrible working conditions and repression faced by workers on banana plantations. The Region currently funds two organisers working for the SITRAP union on the pineapple and banana plantations of Costa Rica and recently made a commitment to continue this support in the long term. Union repression is rife throughout Costa Rican tropical fruit industries; in 2007 GMB London Region support was critical in the signing of the first Collective Bargaining Agreement on a banana plantation for twenty years.

  Abilio Castro of ATC Chinandega