HONORING
LIBERIAN LABOR LEADERS

Tuesday June 24th

Kendejah Restaurant, The Coalition of
Concerned Liberians, the Margibi County Association and the
StopFirestone Coalition invite you to join us in honoring Liberia’s Premier leaders in the
field of labor and human rights.

On Wednesday June 25^th,
Firestone Agricultural Workers Union of Liberia will be receiving an
international human rights award from the AFL-CIO for their work on the
Firestone plantation in Liberia. Present to receive the
award will be Mr. Austin S. Natee, President of the Firestone Agricultural
Workers Union of Liberia (FAWUL) and Mr. Edwin B. Cisco, Secretary General of
FAWUL Liberia's Minister of Labor Samuel Kofi Woodsand Ms. Oretha D. Garway, the
Vice President of the Forestry, Logging and Industrial Workers Union of Liberia
will also be present for the award ceremony.

We will take the occasion of their visit
to spotlight their courageous struggle for justice for the workers of Firestone
and the people of Liberia.

Please join us for an evening of
information and celebration!

For further information
contact emiraips [at] yahoo.com or 202
234-9382x232

_________________________________________________________________

TransAfrica Forum
Arthur R. Ashe, Jr. Foreign Policy Library presents a

Viewpoint Lecture
Series Discussion with 

Liberian Labor
Leaders on Economic Justice and the Rights of Workers in Liberia

WHEN:  Thursday, June 26,
2008; 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM 

WHERE: TransAfrica Forum, 1629 K Street NW, #1100, Washington, DC 20006
Join
TransAfrica in welcoming:

• Mr. Austin S.
  Natee, the President of the Firestone
  Agricultural Workers Union of Liberia
• Mr. Edwin B.
  Cisco, Secretary General of the
  Firestone Agricultural Workers Union of Liberia (FAWUL) and National Coordinator
  in Liberia for the Swedish
  Pan African Trade Union Education Project (PANAF) of the LO/TCO based in Sweden.
• Mr. David D.
  Sackoh, the Secretary General of the
  Forestry, Logging and Industrial Workers' Union of Liberia and the Director for
  Education and Information at the Liberia Labor Congress (LLC), the labor
  federation in Liberia.
• Ms. Oretha D.
  Garway, the Vice President of the
  Forestry, Logging and Industrial Workers Union of Liberia

The
living and working conditions at the Firestone Rubber Plantation, one of the
world’s largest rubber plantations, are brutal, with management routinely
violating basic human rights. Rubber tappers work 14-hour days to meet
impossible production quotas, which require them to tap 750 rubber trees and to
accumulate 150 pounds of latex daily. Pay amounts to little more than $3 a day
and a monthly 100-pound bag of subsidized rice if quotas are met. Tappers walk
for miles with more than 75 pounds of rubber in metal buckets on their backs,
and the company fails to provide them with basic safety
equipment.

On July 7, 2007, for the first time
in the company’s 82-year existence in Liberia, the more than 4,000 workers
at the Firestone Rubber Plantation Company elected union leaders in a free and
fair election.  International observers, including representatives of the
United Steelworkers (USW) and the Solidarity Center of the AFL-CIO monitored the
election at the invitation of an Ad Hoc Election Commission created by the
Liberian government. International civil society—trade
unions, labor rights groups, environmental groups, think tanks, and Africanist
organizations—supported FAWUL’s struggle to organize and support justice for
Liberian Firestone workers in a true example of international solidarity.

TransAfrica
Forum’s Viewpoint Lecture Series: Perspectives from Africa and the Diaspora
undertakes in-depth examinations of contemporary issues integral to an informed
appreciation for the political and socioeconomic fabric of Africa and the Diaspora. For more information call
202.223.1960 ext. 137 or email info [at] transafricaforum.org.