Campaign for Labor Rights Monthly Index - 12,000 Subscribers Posted July 31, 2002 Table of Contents: RAPID ACTION NETWORK MOBILIZED CAMPAIGNS - Noboa (Bonita Brand) Bananas in Ecuador - Samsonite - Light House Factory in Thailand - Tainan - Factory in El Salvador U.S. DOMESTIC - Fast Track Passes by Three Votes - CIW Victory Against Modern Day Slavery - Victory at Florida State University - Victory at New Era Cap Factory in New York INTERNATIONAL - Blood in Haiti's Orange Fields - Shangri-La Hotel Workers in Indonedsia Fight for Union - Nike UNwelcomed in Toronto JOB AND INTERNSHIP POSTINGS - Garment Workers Center in Los Angeles - Africa Action Seeks Organizer in D.C. - United Students Against Sweatshops Seeks Organizer in D.C. OTHER IMPORTANT ANNOUCEMENTS - Four-Day Skill Share in Weelock, Vermont - Human Rights Observers Needed in Guatemala - Nicaragua Network Indigenous Rights Delegation _link_S TO ARTICLES/REPORTS/AND WEBSITES - Strikers as Terrorists? - Child Labour Used to Manufacture World Cup Balls - World Social Forum Website - Inside China's Sweatshops - Mexican Workers Pay for Success - with Labor Costs Rising, Factories Depart for Asia <<<<< MOBILIZED CAMPAIGNS (3 entries) **Noboa (Bonita Brand) Bananas in Ecuador More than 1400 workers at seven plantations producing for the Noboa Company in Ecuador went on strike on February 25th to call for their basic labor rights and the right to a union. Despite a powerful and growing international campaign against the Noboa Corporation (owner of Bonita bananas) its chief owner, Alvaro Noboa, has still not agreed to negotiate with workers on his plantations.  Nearly two months after admitting to hiring hundreds of armed thugs that violently attacked striking workers on the Los Alamos plantations in Ecuador, workers report that the Noboa Corporation has not only refused to reach any settlement with their unions, but has also begun to form a company-biased negotiating committee, in an effort to block negotiations.  The union reports that this committee has members who don't even work on the Los Alamos plantations!  These new anti-union activities place renewed responsibility on the Noboa Company and its owner, Alvaro Noboa Ponton - who is now the leading candidate for president of Ecuador - to demonstrate respect for Ecuadorian law and internationally recognized worker rights. The fight of the Ecuadorian banana workers is being watched carefully by banana unions throughout Latin America, whose wages and benefits are threatened by the dominance of non-union, low-wage Ecuadorian banana exports. After a U.S. national letter-writing campaign, Costco, one of the largest U.S. purchasers of Noboa's Bonita bananas, reported that they had contacted the Noboa Corporation and expressed their concern about the situation in Ecuador as requested in thousands of letters.  Thanks to all who have contacted Costco urging that it intervene with Noboa! ~ TAKE ACTION NOW!  Demand that Alvaro Noboa stop his effort to deny workers their basic rights, to fire those responsible for the attacks, and to negotiate with the unions in good faith, as required by law. Mr. Alvaro Noboa Ponton, Noboa Corporation. Fax: 011-593-42-444-093, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it <mailto:%20 This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or mail: Grupo Noboa Inc. 555 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019. ~ For more information, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , 202-544-9355, or visit US/LEAP in the web at: www.usleap.org ** Samsonite - Light House Factory in Thailand On 16 July, over 200 protesting workers from the Light House Labour Union in Thailand presented a letter written in their own blood to the Thai parliament in protest of events at the Light House production plant.  The Light House workers produce luggage that is sold in the U.S. and around the world by the Samsonite Corporation.  The workers were driven to these desperate tactics by events which began in October 2001 with the dismissal of 600 workers (out of a total workforce of 1400), and the slashing of benefits and wages for the remaining workforce