by James Parks, Apr 27, 2011
Union activists joined with members of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) to rally in front of the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., and British consulates in nine cities. The marchers called on British American Tobacco (BAT), the largest stockholder in U.S. tobacco giant Reynolds American, to use its influence to stop “widespread and egregious” human rights abuses against U.S. tobacco field workers.
Meanwhile in London, a delegation led by Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) President Baldemar Velasquez met with a small group of BAT corporate officials at the company’s headquarters. BAT promised to hold another larger meeting next month with workers to discuss conditions in the U.S. tobacco fields, according to FLOC. This is the first time any corporation with close ties to Reynolds American has agreed to meet with workers. For at least the past four years, Reynolds has refused to meet with representatives of workers.
Tomorrow, Velasquez will present to the BAT annual shareholders’ meeting the major findings of an upcoming human rights study detailing the abuses of workers in the U.S. tobacco supply chain. Says Velasquez:
We are urging the company to back up its words of support for human rights with monitoring and enforcement. Through its control of Reynolds, BAT has the power and the moral obligation to take action to end these abuses.
At the British embassy rally, Nick Wood, a FLOC organizer, told the crowd that tobacco workers are some of the most exploited people in the world. He said the workers are exposed to pesticides and nicotine poisoning in the fields and live in squalid housing. Workers have no protection, he said, if they complain or are fired for seeking union representation to help them improve their working and living conditions.
After the rally, a delegation hand-delivered a letter to the embassy gate asking Ambassador Nigel Sheinwald to use his influence to get BAT to act. At the same time, local union leaders delivered the letter along with LCLAA’s recent report, “Latino Workers in the United States,” to the British consulates in nine cities.
Clayola Brown, president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), told the crowd at the embassy that BAT is a “two-faced corporate outlaw” and despite its stellar corporate image exploits workers around the world.
Metropolitan Washington AFL-CIO President Joslyn Williams said British companies should respect workers’ rights in America. LCLAA Executive Director Hector Sanchez said it was time for BAT and Reynolds American “to stop profiting off the backs of farm workers in North Carolina.”
