The Sour Taste of Pineapple: How an Expanding Export Industry Undermines Workers and Their Communities
International Labor Rights Forum BUILDING A JUST WORLD FOR WORKERS I L R F The Sour Taste of Pineapple: How an Expanding Export Industry Undermines Workers and Their Communities October 20, 2008 Acknowledgements ILRF thanks our dedicated partners, ASEPROLA and EILER, who alerted us to the labor and environmental abuses that exist in the global pineapple industry and contributed greatly to this report. Their expertise and fi eld research were invaluable. ASEPROLA, Asociacion Servicios de Promocion Laboral, based in Costa Rica, is a highly respected advocacy NGO working to defend labor rights and equality for Central American workers through training, services, direct action, research, consultation and communication. EILER, the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research, Inc. is a non-governmental development organization in the Philippines that provides institutional support for labor research and education for workers organizing nationwide. We would also like to thank Didier Leiton, the General Secretary of SITRAP, a union representing pineapple plantation workers’ in Costa Rica, Foro Emaus, the leader of a broad based coalition of groups dedicated to ending the expansion of the pineapple industry in Costa Rica, and Mel Chang and William Kennison of ILWU Local 142 in Hawaii for their advice and contributions. We also thank ILRF’s interns who did the bulk of the research and writing. Thanks in particular to Whitney Webster, Justin Lam, Haley Wrinkle, and Michelle Jacome for their hard work. Thank you to Diane Krauthamer for the many hours of graphic design work. About International Labor Rights Forum ILRF is an advocacy organization dedicated to achieving just and humane treatment for workers worldwide.
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