Bridgestone Accused of Using Slave Labour

The Washington-based International Labor Rights Fund has filed a Federal lawsuit alleging that Bridgestone Corp uses slave and child labour on its rubber plantation in Harbel, Liberia, news agencies have reported.

The suit seeks class action on behalf of 12 adult workers and 23 children and claims the plaintiffs could not bring similar court actions in Liberia because of fear of retribution and a corrupt court system. The suit requests a jury trial and unspecified damages, according to the Associated Press.

Dan Adomitis, the head of Firestone Natural Rubber Co, the unit that operates the Liberian operation, said that the tyre maker will defend itself. “This group has a long track record of filing and losing similar lawsuits against corporations,” Adomitis said in a statement, referring to the labour rights group. “The allegations by this group are outrageous and are simply not supported by the facts. This has more do with generating headlines than with seeking justice.

“Firestone is doing more than any other private entity to invest in the rebuilding of Liberia in the aftermath of a decades-long war. We provide our (employees) in Liberia with stable jobs, housing, health care and free education,” Adomitis added.

He said Firestone’s jobs are among the highest paying in Liberia, the employees are represented by a union and child labour is prohibited.

“The plantation workers are stripped of rights, they are isolated, they are at the mercy of Firestone for everything from food to health care to education, they risk expulsion and certain starvation if they raise even minor complaints, and the company makes wilful use of this situation to exploit these workers as they have since 1926,” the lawsuit contends.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of workers and their children at the plantation under pseudonyms, names Japanese parent company Bridgestone Corp., Bridgestone Americas Holding Inc., Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire and other units as defendants.

The 240 square-mile plantation has an official work force of 6,000.