Firestone Liberian controversy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In 1926, Firestone opened one of the world's biggest rubber plantation in Liberia, West Africa. The workers accuse the company of serious labor abuses, including exploitative child labor, which they claim amount to modern-day slavery. Workers specifically claim that Firestone's high daily quotas force them to employ their own children, subjecting them to grueling and dangerous work conditions. In response to the claims, the president of Firestone Natural Rubber told a CNN interviewer that "each tapper will tap about 650 trees a day, where they spend perhaps a couple of minutes at each tree." As the network pointed out, this would add up to more than 21 hours of work per day.[1]
In May 2006, the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) released a report detailing the state of human rights on Liberia's rubber plantations. According to the report, Firestone managers in Liberia admitted that the company does not effectively monitor its own policy prohibiting child labor. UNMIL found that several factors contribute to the occurrence of child labor on Firestone plantations: pressure to meet company quotas, incentive to support the family financially, and lack of access to basic education. The report also noted that workers' housing provided by Firestone has not been renovated since the houses were constructed in the 1920s and 1930s.[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] Alien Tort Claims Act
In 2005, "tappers" (workers who extract latex from rubber trees) on the Liberian plantation filed an Alien Tort Claims Act lawsuit against Bridgestone/Firestone.
The Lawsuit relates to the following topics:
- Serious labor abuses, including exploitative child labor.
Management of the plantation claim that workers are bringing their own children to work to assist them and that this is not endorsed by the plantation management.
Workers claim that management's high daily quotas force them to employ their own children as their only means of meeting quotas.
Even though Liberia does have child labor laws and Firestone has banned children from tapping trees, workers say the ban isn't enforced. The workers say the only way they can complete their daily quota is to bring their children along.
Firestone management says if children are found helping their parents, the employees are cancelled, and if necessary, disciplined. "We have very strict policies about our child labor. We do not hire anybody under 18 years of age, and we discourage parents from bringing their children to the fields with them ."[1]
Firestone requested to transfer the case to Indianapolis, Indiana from California and this request was granted in April 2006.
