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Panamanians working for the Pacific Coast division of Chiriquí Land Company, a subsidiary of Chiquita Brands International ended a two-month strike on April 17, leaving the company with estimated losses of $10 million. Spokepeople for Chiriquí Land Company point to the loss of this year's predicted exports, possibly next year's crop, and its need to invest some $18 million in rehabilitating the banana plantations damaged in the strike. The strike ended also with the layoff of 274 workers, and no resolution to the dispute between the company and the union. One of several regional conflicts between banana workers and transnationals this year, Panamanian workers went on strike February 19, protesting Chiriquí's violation of the collective agreement signed between the company and SITRACHILCO, the union representing Chiriquí Western Division's 4,600 employees. SITRACHILCO charged that the company had left about 275 employees at the Pacific Port Armuelles without work for a month and a half by rerouting its exports through the Atlantic Port Rambala. Other points of complaint included the packing process required by the company, which has cut into workers' earnings, and the company's failure to pay workers for the ten minutes of rest to which they are entitled. Workers also protested the elimination of latrines and called for the maintenance of their dwellings. The company eliminated 275 jobs among dockworkers, and planned to pay only 100% compensation rather than the 150% that had been offered previously. In addition to this reduction, the union pointed out that while last year's monthly salary for dockworkers had been about $2,000, in the first few months of 1998, reduced exports had left it around $200. The union called for indemnification to be based on a monthly salary of at least $400. The strike ended without a resolution to the issue of indemnification for dockworkers whose jobs had been eliminated. In late April, the company announced the layoff of more than 400 workers. The union responded with legal actions and said it would not accept the replacement of union workers with new workers. The Barú district was hard hit by the strike. Students at the Finca Blanca Secondary School there, where classes had not been held since the beginning of the semester, held several demonstrations and a twenty-four hour hunger strike in early April to pressure the government to intervene. In early May the mayor of Barú, Eric Acosta, announced alternative temporary employment for the 1,542 workers suspended in the Port Armuelles Division, including work in school cafeterias, health centers, or as manual laborers. Acosta also announced the establishment of a food bank to aid families affected by the strike. He expressed his hope that the company would suspend workers for three months instead of six, so that they could continue to provide for their families. Negotiations between the union and the transnational were mediated by Labor Minister Mitchell Doens, whom union representatives criticized for going out campaigning rather than being present at negotiation sessions to ensure that Chiriquí Land Company respected the law. SITRACHILCO Secretary General José Morris also criticized the media for focusing on the company's loss of $10 million rather than the workers' collective loss of $2 million in salaries through the course of the strike. Panamanian President Ernesto Pérez Balladares was quoted in several sources as scolding the union for having ruined the fields and eliminated their work for several months more, pointing out that Chiriquí Land Company is in Panama to make money, not because they like Panama or want to give Panamanians jobs. In a related action, more than 300 workers contracted by Servi Agro, S.A. to apply chemicals and fertilizers to 21 Chiriquí Land Company fields also struck in early February to protest a wage decrease from $5.84- guaranteed by their collective agreement- to $5.00 per hour. Rubén Thomas, a spokesperson for the workers, added that sometimes workers only work four hours twice a week, and are forced to use old gloves that do not adequately protect their hands from the dangerous chemicals with which they work. Chiriquí Land Company has been producing and exporting fruit in Panama for about 100 years. Panamanian Minister of Commerce and Industry, Raúl Arango pointed out that the company exports about $125 million dollars and generates about 10,000 permanent jobs annually. Chiquita Brands International (formerly United Brands, formerly United Fruit) has played a powerful role in the economies and politics of Central American banana-exporting nations since the turn of the century.

Banana Workers Killed in Guatemala, Honduras Guatemalan workers organizing with the support of the banana workers' union SITRABI on several plantations of Bandegua, a subsidiary of Del Monte Fresh Produce managed by Guillermo Lippman Romero, have faced fierce repression recently. Workers on Mopa and El Panorama plantations won an injunction in February, requiring employers to get a court order in order to fire workers. In March, the intimidation campaign became more intense, including threats of violence, illegal firings, arrest warrants for union leaders and organizers, house to house searches, and road blocks, and involving the national police as well as private security guards. On April 29, a judge issued orders to evict workers at the two plantations, leading to fears of further violence. Work has been suspended at the two plantations, and plantation owners are removing workers from the plantations in order to "evaluate the damages." On April 6, 16 workers at the adjacent El Paraiso also won an injunction against the employer that barred him from firing workers without a judge's order. Despite this, in the next week, he illegally fired the same workers who had filed the injunction. On April 14 and 19, a private security guard at El Paraiso shot two workers, but has not been arrested and apparently continues to patrol the plantation. Both the Guatemalan government and Del Monte Fresh Produce refuse to take responsibility for the violent and illegal behavior of the company's Guatemalan subsidiaries. Workers on the Arizona and Alabama plantations of Chiquita subsidiary COBIGUA have similarly been attempting to organize, gaining an injunction in February, and have been harassed through firings, accusations of illegal occupation, and threats with armed men. In Honduras on May 10, labor leader Medardo Reyes Varela was shot and killed by two unknown men. It is feared his assassination may have been in retaliation for his leadership in the movement which recently won compensation for 5,000 Honduran banana workers suffering the effects of a pesticide known as Nemagon. On April 5, 2,000 former employees of Standard Fruit, a subsidiary of U.S.-owned Castle and Cooke, from the provinces of Atlantida, Yoro, and Colón held a march calling for the government to complete investigations and provide compensation for those who have suffered from the use of the pesticide. About 2,000 former Nicaraguan workers on Standard Fruit banana plantations brought a lawsuit against the company demanding compensation for damages suffered as a result of the use of the same pesticide. Standard Fruit has threatened to leave Nicaragua if it loses the lawsuit. On April 6, a civil judge blocked the company's bananas from leaving the country until it makes an initial payment of $10 million. On April 13 about 1,000 former employees blocked the entrances to 15 banana plantations in Chinandega department in order to pressure the company to pay them. Sources: La Prensa 2/13, 2/19, 2/20, 3/5, 3/26, 4/5, 4/12, 5/5/98; El Panamá América 4/17, 5/12/98; Los Tiempos del Mundo 5/21/98; La Red Obrera Noticias 5/13, 5/19/98; US/GLEP Urgent Action, 5/1/98; World Organization Against Torture, 5/29/98; Weekly News Update #429, 4/19/98.