Ecologies  of  Resistance,  Transforma3ve  Change  and  Alterna3ve  Development:  Rubber  Tapping-­‐the  Case  of  Firestone  in  Liberia  

Jenkins  Macedo    

Spring  2012  

Rubber Tappers in Liberia

Firestone Stop Child Labor!

Map of the Firestone Rubber Plantation

Built 1942 by the USG

Brief History of Firestone In Liberia

² 1926 GoL and Firestone signed a 99-year contract for $5M for 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) for rubber plantation.

²  4% of the country’s territory with 10% of its arable land.

²  24o square miles

²  7, 000 employees (rubber tappers)

²  8,000 undocumented workers

²  Latex produced assist the Allies to defeat the Axis Powers during WWII.

Socio-economic & Health Implications

²  Monthly latex production US/$2,296.80 in Liberia ($3,915.00 US)

²  Paid $125.00

²  Workers live in dilapidated housing built in the 1930s.

²  Chemicals Application include both fungicide, herbicide and stimulants

²  Tappers and their families are expose to carcinogenic substances, e.g. Asbestos and chemicals used on the plantation.

²  Lack of cleaning drinking water

² Poor sanitary conditions

Illegal Rubber Tapping

²  Illegal rubber tapping on “no man’s land” a phrase common among ex-combatant rubber tappers.

²  Reinforces insecurity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdvqcckCREQ

Has Firestone Liberia Gone Far Enough in Workplace Reforms?