We had the opportunity to visit a banana plantation in Honduras this past week. We went with our "activist" sensors on high alert, knowing of the injustices that happen when transnational companies come to Central America to exploit cheap labor, tax-free zones, and fewer labor rights. In Nicaragua, currently there are hundreds of banana farmers protesting outside the National Assembly because their children are being born with deformities due to the pesticides used on the plantations and the refusal or inability of the government to place restrictions on the transnational companies.Actually, this plantation wasn't the squalid, slave-exploiting, pesticide-infested kind of environment we might have pictured. But the tour raised several questions for us. What does dignified work mean? Does it depend on culture and economic class? When I eat a banana that I don't need from across the world, am I exploiting a Central American, or giving them work?
On a related topic, we have some friends who work in maquilas (sometimes known as factories or sweatshops). Though there are some terrible situations of people not being allowed to go to the bathroom, working long hours without compensation, or layoffs for trying to organize, this is not always the case. Our friends are thankful for the opportunity to work and feel a sense of loyalty to their companies.
So here we are, continuing to find the gray areas. We can't fight for the shutting down of all maquilas, the boycotting of bananas, or the complete repealment of CAFTA. But we want to stand in solidarity with people here as they organize and work for justice, live simply to break harmful cycles of consumerism, and keep listening to those around us.
1 comment:
Oh, The Gray areas!!! LOVin' IT Huh!?! HEhehe... Just Want to ExpAnd On The Exploitation Of OuT-SourcinG From THe PhilIpPiNEs PoInT oF viEw... HeRe IT Goes:
OnE OF THe MAjoR Out-SouRcinG pRoduCts FoR The philIPpINEs is THe 24-HoUR TelEphoNE CustomEr serviCe. This Also HAppEns In InDia (i.e., They SurvEy LAX airpoRt), I HAve FriEnds In This BusinEss. noW, youR PoinT Where THe GoOD pArt OF this is that IT HAs created JoB OppuRtUniTies foR the nAtionAls is TRUE BuT THe UNDerlYIng Effects Does noT Come up UnTil onE sees hoW SociTeTAl StruCtures/Traditions aRe BRokEn. First, ThEse 24-Hour CustomEr serViCes OFfer a much Higher PAy Than yoUR Average WoRkIng PErson, GooD RighT? yEs, foR That InDiViDuaL PErson Only. noTiCe THat I Said InDiViDuAl And noT Family oR ComMuniTy. The InDividualistiC paradiGm WAs bRouGht in ThrouGh The ConcepT oF "since I Am WorkIn' For a NoRth American ComPAnY And Get mORe pAy than You (SpeakiNG To PEErs And Sadly To ElDers) Then I Can Do What Ever I Want" Attitude... There Have BEen pLenty Of Cases bOTh From Friends and Their Co-woRkers that made Them Go inTo This kIND oF mEntaliTy, so, The CoMmunITy gaThered and Got them oUT OF That SiTuation... That Goes WiTh My Indian FriEnds Also! All AtTest ThEy Were trained To Think That they Were HIgher and better Than... I Don"T know iF IT is a KIND oF 'yeY Team' bUT I Know for sure they Work These WoRkers To Death (i.e., lONG hoURs, PooR WorkING EnViRonment, no SuppoRT CompAnies ExeC, Etc.) and The ReasonInG To This Is because OF The HiGh-pAyiNG Jobs! Thus The bReakiNG Of The "we" CamE In wiTh The inTro To The EgoTistic "I"
SeconD, Out-SouRciNG Is all ToGether UnJust(!) BEcAuse Even IF THe Nation GetS econOmIC Gain OR The EmploYees Get BEtter pAy THan THe Average, The "Company" is stiLl SaviNG MoNey (oR mORe so THAt THe Top pEopLe are GettiNG mORe PAy, WhiCh Is a Very GoOD BuSiness moVe). plUS, When JoBs Get Taken Out OF THe US ThAt MEans thAt Those that are in The WorkiNg Range have lOWer ChanceS To Gain OR keep ThEiR Jobs! Have a CoupLE OF friEnds in This pOsiTion Also... (Wow, Im StAnding in The Gray now, huh?!)
ThiRd, Thanks FoR lEttiNG ME respoND to YoUR pOst And ReadinG iT All The Way To This pOiNT!
PRayin' WiTh U,
w(^_^)
Post a Comment