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Nicaraguan banana workers have been struggling for compensation from Dole Fruit, Shell, and Dow Chemical for exposure to the pesticide DBCP. The obstacles to justice are many, including the US courts, powerful lobbies, and free trade agreements.

May 7, 2004
FOREIGN LABOR
Indian Contract Workers in Iraq Complain of Exploitation
By DAVID ROHDE


ELICHAKKALA, India, May 5 - Last summer an agent for an Indian recruitment company offered what seemed like the chance of a lifetime to Abdul Aziz Hamid and his younger brother Shahjahan.

Two private military contractors are being investigated for their role in torture allegations at the Abu Ghraib prison, Iraq: CACI from Arlington, Virginia, and Titan of San Diego, California.

The United States is investigating reports Indian nationals were victims of human trafficking to Iraq and mistreated while working there as contractors in U.S. military camps, the State Department has said.

In the face of criticism over its controversial construction projects, Bechtel has taken media manipulation to the next level, employing a three-pronged approach to weaving a rosy story for the public and investors.

Many say the Pentagon's contract oversight system is crumbling under a burgeoning workload, sharp staff cuts, and a less aggressive oversight culture driven by acquisition reforms that promote more partnership and trust between the Defense Department and its contractors.

Last year, Ken Pedeleose and two colleagues wrote a 90-page report, cross-referenced with hundreds of documents and correspondence, accusing DCMA officials and the Pentagon of routinely bypassing administrative safeguards. The report was delivered to more than 50 members of Congress.

The Pentagon had high hopes it could keep costs low on a new model of the C-130 transport by treating it like any other commercial purchase, but despite the publicly intended purpose, the airlifter's price nearly doubled.

First California semiconductor firm AXT, Inc. exposed its workers to arsenic. Then it fired them and sent their jobs to China.

In Immokalee, Florida, the situation is dire. South Florida is the nation's leading producer of fresh tomatoes. Taco Bell is a major purchaser of Florida tomatoes. Their enormous purchasing power gives them a unique opportunity to intervene on behalf of farm workers who subsidize corporate profits with sweatshop tomatoes.