BFS prevents US workers from collecting in support of Liberian workers

Nashville, Tennessee - The US-based United Steelworkers' union claims Bridgestone Firestone management has prevented its members from conducting a voluntary gate collection in support of farm workers at the company's rubber plantation in Liberia.

The Union issued an angry statement alleging Firestone's Liberian workers suffer, "numerous human rights violations, including the use of child labour." When a strike was called at the Harbel, Liberia plantation, said the USW, "the rubber tree tappers and other laborers cited unsafe and unsanitary working conditions, inadequate healthcare and flagrant discrimination, in addition to poor wages."

Lewis Beck, USW Local 1055 president said, "Gate collections are fairly common at the plant. We've stood for years at the same locations collecting for members who are ill or other locals on strike. Most recently, we collected to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina."

"Situations like today remind me why our contract negotiations are so difficult," said Beck. "I think the company sometimes forgets that its workers are people trying to take good care of their families." Beck added that he and other members of the local were planning to meet with lawyers today to discuss the possibility of filing legal charges.

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Press release from USW