H-2 Worker is a 1990 documentary film about the exploitation of Jamaican guest workers in Florida's sugar cane industry. It was directed by Stephanie Black, and won the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for documentaries in the 1990 festival. It was shot in Belle Glade, Clewiston, and Okeelanta, Florida as well as Jamaica and includes cane fields and worker camps (Ritta Village, Prewitt Village) owned by US Sugar Corporation and the Okeelanta Corporation.
The cane harvesters were brought in to perform the autumn harvest of sugar cane under the H-2A Visa program. The Jamaicans replaced earlier generations of Bahamian seasonal workers who in turn replaced migrant labor recruited from the Cotton Belt (region) in the first half of the 20th century. A documentary short that accompanies the DVD version of the film states that human labor was abandoned for mechanical harvesters in 1992.
The film features interviews with a United States Department of Labor official, a Florida Sugar Cane League official, Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley, local merchants, and a dozen or so field workers. It also includes footage of César Chávez, US Representative Thomas Downey, and US Senator Bill Bradley.
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, 1h26 Directed byStéphanie Black OriginUSA GenresDocumentary ThemesSeafaring films, La mondialisation, Politique, Transport films, Documentaire sur l'altermondialisme, Political films Rating73% Ce documentaire porte un regard sur la situation économique en Jamaïque depuis l'accession du pays à l'indépendance, le 6 août 1962. Il s'intéresse particulièrement au rôle du Fonds monétaire international et de la Banque mondiale dans la globalisation de l'économie du pays. Ceux-ci ont en effet accordé plusieurs prêts au pays pour l'aider dans son développement, à la condition qu'il mène une politique de déréglementation, de privatisation et d'ouverture au commerce extérieur. Cette politique aurait d'après le film non pas conduit à une amélioration de la situation, mais au contraire à une augmentation progressive de la dette publique jamaïcaine, qui atteint de nos jours 7 milliards de dollars. L'agriculture du pays aurait été fortement affaiblie, de par la concurrence des denrées étrangères (majoritairement américaines), subventionnées et donc moins chères.
Strawberry Fields points out that strawberries grown in Gaza are the only agricultural product marketed internationally as being of Palestinian origin. One of the major Gaza strawberry farms in located at Beit Lahiya. More than 1,500 tons of strawberries are exported from Gaza to Europe through the Israeli company Agrexco. In order to get overseas, however, the fruits need to pass through the checkpoint that separates Israel and Gaza. The 2005–2006 growing season coincided with the Israel's disengagement from Gaza and the rise of Hamas as the ruling political entity. The armed conflict between Israel and Hamas resulted in the closing of the border checkpoint. The strawberries grown at Beit Lahiya cannot leave Gaza, resulting in significant losses for the farmers and their Agrexco partners. Unable to transport their produce, the farmers have no choice but to dispose of their crop and prepare for the following year’s growing season.