Keeping it Personal

Here are 2 more stories from real banana workers.

“My name is Eduardo Hernandez.  During one of the union strikes that we had I was imprisoned for 16 days, and they accused me of being the union leader.  The imprisoned me together with a colleague, and I was in prison, in San Jose, for 16 days.  They tortured me there, asking me where we had the weapons, which was a pure fabrication.  They struck me and crushed my fingers.”

“My name is Angelita. I have eight children and am a single mother. I have worked for more than twenty years in the banana plantations of Chinandega, Nicaragua. One day I was fired and given minimal compensation of about $10 because they said I was a “trouble maker”. I was then put on a “black list” so none of the other farms would employ me. The reason for this? Simply that some time ago I had decided that I would join a local trade union, the Association of Farm Workers, to fight for my own and other workers’ labor rights. I do not feel well these days. I suspect that, like my friends, I am suffering from the effects of pesticides that were used by the Dole in the 1980s in my home country.”