BANANAS!*

July 31, 2012

Philippine banana workers demands answers for pesticide lawsuits

Filed under: News,The Facts — admin @ 10:20 am

Banana workers and their families from the Philippines have posted very strong and worrying testimonies on our site about what have happened to them in Banana plantations in the Philippines. The workers with Philippine Pioneer Banana Workers Inc (PPBWI) filed law suits against the companies involved with DBCP production and distribution but they haven´t had any compensation or answers.

“My father have worked on banana plantation in Davao. Among the family we are claimants of the chemical victor that we awaited for several years. My father and my mother are sickly causing the effects of the chemical being applied in the plantation not only of them mostly our neighbors, my relatives and my classmates they are died due to different diseases”
February 4th, 2012 at 10:59 Bhabes

“Five of us in our family have worked on banana plantation in davao. We are one of the claimants, we patiently waited that our claims will be granted this year. My brother died due to liver cancer, he supervises the harvesting crew at the field. Any updates?”
January 10th, 2012 at 10:39 Alma

“My father is a claimant from Philippines and have died waiting for hes compensation.. may i inquire the result of the case filed by the Philippine Pioneer Banana Plantation Workers Inc.”
March 15th, 2011 at 4:52, John

Read more:
Pesticide lawsuits – a DBCP overview

July 29, 2012

Another day in court for Dole Food Co

Filed under: News,The Facts — admin @ 4:54 pm

The legal case we followed in BANANAS!* is still ongoing. Our film closed when the jury came down with a ground breaking verdict. Dole was found liable with malice and ordered to pay punitive damages to six of the workers. Later, Dole appealed and managed to overturn all the verdicts. A new lawyer, Steve Condie, took on the workers appeal on a pro-bono basis. Now it’s time for a new round in court.

Read the full brief here (PDF, 17 mb):
Appellant’s Opening Brief (redacted version)

It’s an interesting read, Condie highlights the use of so called "John Doe" witnesses in Nicaragua. The case now has a new name: JOSE ANTONIO ROJAS LAGUNA, et al. vs Dole Food CO.

See also:
Two years ago Fredrik Gertten interviewed Steve Condie in court. See the video interview here »

Scientific publication on Dole vs banana workers litigation

Filed under: News,The Facts — admin @ 4:29 pm

BANANAS!* covered just a tiny portion of the ongoing fight for workers health in relation to the use of the chemical DBCP. Now the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health has published a scientific article on the subject.

Download the full article (PDF):
Secrecy and justice in the ongoing saga of DBCP litigation
By Vicent Boix & Susanna R. Bohme

 

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