Bien Andres bien..... so if you live in the West or the North dont support big brands like Chiquita Bananas, Nestle, or imported food itemas that come from central america. These companies offer very little to their workers nor do they supply them with the necessary protective equipment to support them. In many cases workers are influenced with a below average/ below minimum wage but are exposed to very harmful chemicals etc.... workers who try to organise themselves in these circumstances more than likely end up dead or sacked somewhere along the line…

yoruga - Jun 26, 2008 10:33am

Bien Andres bien..... so if you live in the West or the North dont support big brands like Chiquita Bananas, Nestle, or imported food itemas that come from central america. These companies offer very little to their workers nor do they supply them with the necessary protective equipment to support them. In many cases workers are influenced with a below average/ below minimum wage but are exposed to very harmful chemicals etc.... workers who try to organise themselves in these circumstances more than likely end up dead or sacked somewhere along the line…

This is a fascinating topic.  It’s mind boggling to try to not support certain companies because when you learn how many products each company and sister company supplies you are left with a lot less convenient options to choose from.  It takes some investigating to find out who owns who. 

But I agree that paying a decent wage and having safe working conditions are important.  So the what’s the answer?  Change products as the consumer or demand those companies change their employment practices?  I would assume the people working at the jobs are in need of a job if they are working there to begin with.  So if they lost their job, that wouldn’t be good either, right?  And outsourcing jobs is a hot topic here in America. 

Nestle was mentioned for example, I find that one interesting because I live close to a Nestle plant.  Some days you can smell the chocolate in the air.(and it smells really good) I would assume the cocoa would come from your area and then is processed here in my area.  Comparing the wages at each plant would be interesting.

It’s important to know where your products come from.  When Nike was exposed for having child labor it opened a lot of people’s eyes and got them thinking about it.

This is the greatest headline ever.

And it is not the U.S. doing this, it is “Free Trade” and the “World Economy”

If you are willing to make goods at a low price, companies are going to buy and distribute that product for profit.