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Super Bowl Slavery

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joshumu
“On Feb. 3, though, pay close attention to the halftime show. Tom Petty is performing, which means that any wardrobe malfunction could lead to the fall of Western civilization. The show also stands to be a commercial bonanza for its sponsor, Bridgestone/Firestone. The Fortune 500 company has been crowned the “Official Tire Sponsor” of Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLIII. As John Gamauf, an executive with the company, said, the sponsorship “is an unprecedented opportunity to showcase the Bridgestone brand to the world.” Peter Murray, the National Football League’s senior vice president of partnership marketing and sales, chimed in: “By teaming with a global leader like Bridgestone, we can make America’s favorite event even more powerful.” But NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell might want to be more careful about who the league cozies up to, especially when the partner is known in some parts of the globe not for high-velocity tires but for highly exploitative labor practices. The rubber business has historically been horrific for African workers, known as tappers, who collect sap from rubber trees on plantations south of the Sahara. The labor practices of the Firestone Natural Rubber Co., a subsidiary of Bridgestone/Firestone, in Liberia seem in keeping with this history.” Znet (1/23/0Cool

Its good to remember what we support during our biggest distractions.

http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/16278
Bryan_Bezzle
hmm....yes..good for the Giants
eday2010
Hey, if you don't want to pay $300 a tire when you need new ones instead of the $60-$80 they cost now (in most cases), expect labour in foriegn countries to be questionable. that's the way it has to be. Cheap products = cheap labour.
landed
joshumu wrote:
“On Feb. 3, though, pay close attention to the halftime show. Tom Petty is performing, which means that any wardrobe malfunction could lead to the fall of Western civilization. The show also stands to be a commercial bonanza for its sponsor, Bridgestone/Firestone. The Fortune 500 company has been crowned the “Official Tire Sponsor” of Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLIII. As John Gamauf, an executive with the company, said, the sponsorship “is an unprecedented opportunity to showcase the Bridgestone brand to the world.” Peter Murray, the National Football League’s senior vice president of partnership marketing and sales, chimed in: “By teaming with a global leader like Bridgestone, we can make America’s favorite event even more powerful.” But NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell might want to be more careful about who the league cozies up to, especially when the partner is known in some parts of the globe not for high-velocity tires but for highly exploitative labor practices. The rubber business has historically been horrific for African workers, known as tappers, who collect sap from rubber trees on plantations south of the Sahara. The labor practices of the Firestone Natural Rubber Co., a subsidiary of Bridgestone/Firestone, in Liberia seem in keeping with this history.” Znet (1/23/0Cool

Its good to remember what we support during our biggest distractions.

http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/16278


And This

But the ousted company-appointed officials challenged the results in court, and Firestone refused to bargain with the new elected union leadership. In December, workers walked off their jobs, demanding that the company recognize their union.

Then later that month, the Liberian Supreme Court ruled that the July elections were legitimate and that Firestone would have to negotiate with the union. Austin Nantee, the newly elected president of the Firestone Agriculture Workers' Union of Liberia, said workers "are looking forward to carving out a new collective bargaining agreement with the company."

But Firestone has not definitively accepted the election outcome and still has not negotiated in good faith with the newly elected union leadership.

So the question remains: Should the NFL be offering an international platform to a company accused of using child labor and refusing to bargain with a union whose leadership was democratically elected?

Goodell has been quick to levy tough suspensions and stiff fines on players who run up against the law off the playing field. He should be as vigilant in picking sponsors for his league's marquee game.


Dave Zirin is the author of the new book "Welcome to the Terrordome:" with an intro by Chuck D (Haymarket). You can receive his column Edge of Sports, every week by emailing dave@edgeofsports.com Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com
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