 While it was reported in February all round the world that the teachers of Belize were on strike, even here in Dangriga a strike at the same time by 1,500 banana workers employed by S?ren Hofdahl S?rensen in the south of our parish went unnoticed.
The teachers were protesting at taxes being raised and their pay rise being delayed. They feel they are paying the price for corruption in the government. This was the government?s budget response to the World Bank?s refusal to give a new loan while spending continues to be greater than the income ? by about 8% per year. The S?rensen banana workers were protesting after they were told by their captains that their pay was now to be reduced from about ?4.35 per day to ?2.50 per day. This compares to a teacher?s pay of ?10-?25 per day.
During the strike I was curious to see if there was anything published on the internet about the guy who is the most notorious employer in the south of Belize. Notorious because he likes to hire undocumented labour to work extra long days and then not pay them or any of his workers for weeks, and when he does give a cheque it bounces if you are not at the front of the bank queue on pay day. Many workers give up waiting to be paid and go back to the land they came from hungry.
I was shocked to learn that he is really a regional manager of businesses belonging to a Danish sect called Tvind or the Teachers? Group. He has recently had to sell all but one of their banana farms in Ecuador in the face of huge demonstrations that had nationwide support. Their founder, Mogens ?Amdi? Petersen and some co-conspirators are currently on trial in Denmark for fraud. Money that was collected for charitable use found its way into Swiss bank accounts of the sect. In more than 55 countries, just about every country the Claretian Missionaries work in, this sect has multimillion pound properties. In Britain they have operated under the guise of several look-alike-charities: Humana (People-to-People); Planet Aid; College for International Co-operation and Development; Green World Recycling; and Gaia-movement Trust Living Earth Green World Action. In the first world they are accused of brainwashing vulnerable young people into complete subservience to the cult and falsely claiming to be sending donations to help the third world. The modus operandum of the sect across the developing world seems to be consistent: an unexplainable need for new loans that never are enough, damage to the local economy by unethical trading, union breaking and human rights abuses including non-payment of workers and corruption of governments. Here in Belize it is the Deputy Prime Minister, Ralph Fonseca, who consistently approves new development loans to Tvind even though it is obvious it is a bad investment.
The Claretian Mission in Dangriga is trying to help the exploited workers by helping them and their families apply to improve their immigration status. Poor foreigners are only permitted to work in citrus or bananas. Experience has shown that this is by far the best way to give people the confidence to stand up to those out to exploit them. There are also some victims who are Belizean born but undocumented or illiterate. Moreover, we are supporting, through a small loan, a cooperative of former Tvind employees who are growing vegetables for the market rather than continuing to work without pay.
The good news on the Tvind banana worker?s strike is that their protest was heard. Their pay wasn?t reduced although they continue to get rubber cheques. But this is a far cry from only a year ago when Tony Zabaneh, director of the Banana Growers? Association, would call in the riot police to persuade the striking workers to get on the bus and go to work. People are in fear as they still remember the martyrs of previous strikes and the attempted deportation en masse of striking banana workers and their families in the 1990s.
If you want to be e-mailed more information about Tvind in Belize, please contact claretians@btl.net. |
