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?
