INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS; Banana Workers Get Day in Court

Federal court clears way for suit by 3,000 Central American banana workers seeking millions of dollars in damages from Shell Oil, Dow Chemical, Occidental Chemical, Dole Food, Del Monte Fresh Produce and Chiquita Brands International for variety of medical problems attributed to insecticide dibromochloropropane, or DBCP; pesticide was banned in United States in 1977 but continued to be used for years on banana plantations that supply US fruit industry; photos (M)