Henry J. Frundt, 70, died of cancer September 16 at his home in Montclair, New Jersey. Hank had been a steady and reliable adviser to NACLA as well as a contributor of articles, news briefs, and reviews. A professor of sociology at Ramapo College for more than 35 years, he brought a deep sense of social justice and commitment to all his endeavors and projected a quiet integrity. Born in Blue Earth, Minnesota, his early research and writings dealt with agribusiness and the plight of farmers and workers. His concern with labor and trade unions would be a constant in his life’s work.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, he was drawn to the social upheaval and political conflicts in Central America, particularly in Guatemala. Making frequent trips to the region, he began to document and write about the conditions of the workers at the Coca Cola bottling plant in Guatemala City, where trade union leaders were routinely assassinated for their organizing activities. This work culminated in Refreshing Pauses: Coca-Cola and Human Rights in Guatemala (Praeger Publishers, 1987), an indictment of the labor policies of the Atlanta-based corporation. Hank headed up delegations at Coca-Cola annual stockholders’ meetings that condemned the company’s continued licensing of the Guatemalan subsidiary. Capturing the importance of this type of cross-border organizing, he co-authored, with Deborah Levenson-Estrada, an influential article in the NACLA Report, “Towards a New Internationalism: Lessons From the Guatemalan Labor Movement” (volume 28, no. 5).
For more than two decades, Hank was a member of the board of directors of the U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project (USLEAP), an independent nonprofit organization that supports the basic rights of workers in Latin America. He joined the board in its infancy shortly after it was founded in 1987, when it was first known as the U.S./Guatemala Labor Education Project. During his tenure, Hank participated in delegations to Guatemala, attended meetings with government and company officials in the United States and Central America, and researched and wrote on key issues, including trade and worker rights, fair trade, and organizing campaigns. He also served as the secretary-treasurer of USLEAP. “Hank provided wisdom, knowledge, leadership, and much support for over 20 years. He will be sorely missed,” says USLEAP executive director Stephen Coats.
My last visit with Hank, just months before he passed away, came as he was running off to a meeting at the United Nations in New York, where he served as the “expert affiliate” of the UN Committee of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. The name of the committee obscures the broad array of activities that Hank was able to carry out in this position—ranging from drafting resolutions on peace and militarization for the UN Commission on Sustainable Development to securing the participation of more than 100 students from local high schools and colleges in UN discussions on sustainable development initiatives.
Hank’s final contribution to understanding the relationship between labor, international trade, and alternatives to corporate domination of the market place came with the release in 2009 of his book Fair Bananas: Farmers, Workers and Consumers Strive to Change an Industry (University of Arizona Press). More than a discussion of the alliances of the different actors involved in trying to secure a fair price, the book is also the most comprehensive study of the global banana industry available today. It provides a critical insight into the functioning of the global economy, U.S.–Latin American relations, collective action, and international solidarity. The book stands as a testimony to Hank’s lifelong capacity to move from involvement in local social and organizational struggles to a sophisticated consideration of international strategies for attaining planetary social justice.
Contributions in Hank’s memory can be sent to USLEAP, at www.usleap.org.
Roger Burbach is the director of the Center for the Study of the Americas (CENSA), based in Berkeley, California. He has written extensively on Latin America and U.S. foreign policy.
