[CIMC-work] ["nscchicago" <nscchicago@igc.org>: Fw: Call Dole, Shell & Dow Tomorrow Thursday!]

[donald goldhamer]

Is this a possible feature, even tho I don't find a local hook yet.
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From: "nscchicago" <nscchicago at igc.org>
To: "nscchicago" <nscchicago at igc.org>
Subject: Fw: Call Dole, Shell & Dow Tomorrow Thursday!
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2003 04:39:08 -0600

Tom Baker here, forwarding to you a reminder.

Call Dole, Shell & Dow Tomorrow TODAY Thursday!

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "Nicaragua Network" <nicanet at afgj.org>
To: <nicanet-hotline at afgj.org>
Cc: <lasolidarity at topica.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 7:12 PM
Subject: LASC: Call Dole, Shell & Dow Tomorrow Thursday!

Don't forget to call Dole, Shell and Dow tomorrow
Thursday!

Tell Dow, Shell and Dole to Pay Up!
International Action Day in Support of Banana Workers:
December 11, 2003
Call or Write to CEOs on December 11th!!

Nemagon is a virulent pesticide that was used on banana
plantations in Nicaragua, other countries in Central
America, in the Caribbean, and in the Philippines. It is
derived from debromochloropropane (DBCP) and kills a
microscopic worm which inhibits the production and damages
the appearance of bananas. Though banned in the U.S. since
1979 because workers in the plants manufacturing the
product were found to be sterile, Nemagon was exported
throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s to unsuspecting banana
producing nations like Nicaragua Standard Fruit (Dole in
the U.S.), Del Monte, and United Fruit (now Chiquita) were
some of the companies that sprayed Nemagon on their crops
of bananas. The pesticide was produced by Dow Chemical,
Shell Oil, Occidental and others.

A Nicaraguan court ruled on December 11, 2002, that Dow,
Shell and Dole had to pay US$490 million to affected
banana workers from the Department of Chinandega, but the
companies have yet to pay one cent to the plaintiffs. In
response to a letter sent by the Nicaragua Network and
human rights activists, Shell Oil claimed that their DBCP
was "not sold to growers for use in Nicaragua." There is,
however, evidence to the contrary: the Managua newspaper
La Prensa reported on November 10 that the government
registry of the importation of pesticides and fertilizers,
part of the Ministry of Agriculture, shows that a
representative of Shell Oil Company imported the chemical
beginning in 1973. December 11, 2003, will be the first
anniversary of the legal victory. Call the CEOs of these
companies as part of an international campaign of action
in support of Nicaragua's banana workers. The
Italy-Nicaragua Association is sponsoring a day of action
on the 13th, with leafleting around Italy in support of
the workers. Join this international campaign!

For more information, visit the Nicaragua Network web page
at www.nicanet.org, call (202) 544-9355 or write
nicanet at afgj.org

Fact Sheet, Talking Points and Sample Letter
A case of human, labor, & environmental injustice

The History

* Nemagon is a virulent pesticide used in banana
plantations in Central America, the Caribbean, and the
Philippines

* Nemagon was employed extensively in the banana-growing
department of Chinandega, Nicaragua

* Nemagon, derived from dibromochloropropane (DBCP), kills
a microscopic worm which inhibits the production and
damages the appearance of the bananas

* Though banned in the U.S. since 1979, Nemagon was
exported throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s to other
countries

* Dow Chemical and Shell Chemical, two of the major
producers of Nemagon, exported up to 24 million pounds a
year during this period

* Standard Fruit (owned by Dole), Del Monte, and United
Fruit (now Chiquita) are some of the companies that
sprayed Nemagon on their crops

* As a result it is estimated that 22,000 Nicaraguans are
afflicted with Nemagon-caused diseases and disability

* It is possible that derivatives of Nemagon are still
being used in Nicaragua today

The Effects:

* The wide variety of Nemagon-caused symptoms have been
attributed to the fact that DBCP targets the endocrine
system

* Male victims of Nemagon suffer from reduced, impaired,
or completely decimated sperm counts, with 67% of the male
banana workers in Nicaragua rendered permanently sterile

* Female victims are plagued with menstrual disruptions,
discoloration of the skin, repeated miscarriages, uterine
and breast cancer

* Both women and men live with migraines and permanent
headaches, bone pains, vision loss, fevers, hot flashes,
loss of fingernails and hair, hematoma-covered skin,
weight loss, anxiety and other nervous disorders,
depression, liver damage, kidney and stomach cancer

* 466 Nicaraguans have died as a result of Nemagon-caused
cancer The Case:

* The Association of Workers, and Former Workers with
Claims against Nemagon (ASOTRAEXDAN) has been organized,
headed by one of the victims, Victorino Espinales *
ASOTRAEXDAN has led the banana worker?s struggle by
convening assemblies, conducting medical exams on past &
present workers, operating a radio program, organizing
public protests, and filing legal suits on behalf of the
plaintiffs

* On January 17th, 2001, due to these efforts, the
Nicaraguan National Assembly passed Law 364, which lays
the legal groundwork upon which farmworkers can sue the
corporations

* This law is explicitly threatened by the proposal of the
Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)

* Three U.S. corporations have been found liable under Law
364 in a Nicaraguan court; Dole, Dow, and Shell have been
ordered to pay US$490 million to Nemagon victims

* Each of these companies has denied the legality of the
case on fallacious grounds, calling for a new trial in the
U.S.

* Most recently, the farmworkers? cause has been bogged
down by further legal problems, so the banana workers need
your support now!

Call or Write to Dow, Dole and Shell!

Points to make in your call:

1. Your company was found liable for damages to the health
of Nicaraguan banana workers in Nicaraguan courts because
you produced and exported [or used, in the case of Dole]
the unsafe pesticide Nemagon or DBCP.

2. You knew that this pesticide damaged the health of
those who came in contact with it.

3. Therefore you should pay what the court in Nicaragua
has determined you owe.

Contact Information:

William S. Stavropoulos
President, CEO and Chairman of the Board
Dow Chemical Company
Chairman of the Board, CEO
Midland, MI 48667
Global Ethics and Compliance: (989) 636-3989

David H. Murdock Chairman of the Board, CEO
Dole Food Company, Inc.
47 Building
One Dole Drive
Westlake Village, CA 91362 1-800-232-8888

Jeroen van de Veer
President of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company
CEO of Shell Chemicals
Shell Chemicals Europe BV
P.O. Box 8610
3009 AP Rotterdam, Netherlands
Shell Oil Company in the United States:
Raymond T. Collins (responded to previous letters)
P.O. Box 2463 Houston, TX 77252
(713) 241-7111 (direct line)
1-888-467-4355 (press 0)

Sample letter

Dear Sir: As a person concerned about human rights, I am
writing to express my alarm upon hearing that you have
refused to pay damages awarded on December 11, 2002, by
the Third Civil District Court of Managua, Nicaragua,
which found your company guilty of causing injury to
Nicaraguan banana workers and to their families. The
damages were incurred from use of a chemical known as
Dibromo-Chloropropane (DBCP) and sold under the commercial
names of Nemagon and Fumazone. The use of this chemical
inflicted irreversible damage, both physical and
psychological, upon the workers and their families, and
has resulted in the death of many workers in recent years.
According to scientists, DBCP particularly targets the
human endocrine system, which controls all the chemical
processes that are critical to the development and
functioning of the body's various anatomical systems. In
1977, 35 workers in a DBCP plant in California were found
to be sterile. The toxin was immediately outlawed in
California, and two years later, in 1979, the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned the
production and usage of DBCP throughout the US, using as
evidence the chemical's poisonous effects on human
chromosomes and its ability to persist as a toxin in soil
and groundwater. The EPA also categorizes the pesticide as
a "probable human carcinogen." As a result of these and
other findings, the World Health Organization has
classified DBCP as "extremely hazardous." I urge you to
respect the ruling of the Nicaraguan court and pay the
damages awarded to the affected banana workers. Under
international law and in consideration of basic human
rights standards, your company should assume its
responsibility for perpetuating the use of a chemical
which was long known to be unsafe.

Sincerely,

Your name
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For more information, visit the Nicaragua Network web page
at www.nicanet.org, call (202) 544-9355 or write
nicanet at afgj.org

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