Labor is Not a Commodity

Dole Goes to the NY Stock Exchange but will This Mean Anything for Workers?

By Brian Campbell, Director of Policy and Legal Programs, International Labor Rights Forum

According to many stock market analysts, Dole Food Company’s Initial Public Offering (IPO), which is scheduled to go on sale on the New York Stock Exchange this Friday, will be a test whether investor confidence has improved and the economy is on the rise once again. For Dole Foods, the IPO is an effort to find investors to bail the company out from under $2 billion in debt. So, the question on many peoples’ mind this week: Should I invest my money with Dole Foods, and what will I get if I do?

So, for the next few days, we here at the Labor is Not a Commodity Blog and International Labor Rights Forum will invite you into Dole’s global production system and provide you an on-the-ground account of what you will be purchasing with each Dole share. That way, you can better understand the impact you will have as part owner of Dole’s global empire and see how your potential future company controls and influences the lives of those who produce Dole’s fresh and packaged produce.  There is no better place to start than with an inside view from those who make up the Dole family, its global workforce.

400 Cut-Flower Workers Strike and Take Plantation Over Mistreatment

Eva Seidelman, ILRF Program Assistant

Over 400 cut-flower workers (mostly women) from the company Benilda, S.A. in Facatativa, Colombia have been on strike for nearly 20 days. They've faced substandard working conditions for years and are finally demanding that as the company fires hundreds of workers, it at least pay them what they are owed in back compensation! Over 60% of cut-flowers sold in the U.S. are from Colombia, with  women occupying the majority of the poorly paid, hazardous positions. See ILRF's Fairness in Flowers campaign page for more on the general working conditions for cut-flower workers and visit this website (in spanish) especially created to support the Benilda workers. The mobilization efforts against the Benilda company have been organized by Colombia' independent flower workers' union, Untraflores, and supported by other agricultural unions such as Sintrainagro (in Colombia) in the international union of food workers, IUF. The local Diocese and other community groups are also supporting groups.

Benilda has failed to pay for workers' health coverage and pension (as mandated by Colombian law) even after the company made deductions from their wages. This has resulted in workers falling ill from cancer, thrombosis, carpal tunnel syndrome and other life long illnesses caused by the hazardous work of cut-flower cultivation and production, as they satisfy U.S. consumers' demand for cheap, perfect flowers. Flower workers across the world have seen their production quotas get higher, increasing risks of injury and pesticide exposure, as companies squeeze workers in search of profits.

Fair Expectations: Rainforest Alliance v. Fairtrade

This article was originally published on the website of the Organic Consumers Association here.

By Justin Trauben, Organic Consumers Association

McDonald's, Chiquita, Mars, Wal-Mart, and Kraft apparently now all have products certified "sustainable," sharing, among other things, the little green frog label of the Rainforest Alliance. On the other side of the labeling world, we have Fair Trade, the original product certification initiative aimed at building equitable and sustainable trading partnerships and creating opportunities to alleviate poverty.

Fair Trade and "sustainable" labeling organizations, are private non-profits that have no stockholders, and are therefore not legally obligated to provide information to the public. Combined with the fact that the state lacks the power to ensure that certifiers comply with their own standards, consumers must rely on independent evaluation to assess these labeling initiatives. Can consumers trust that the labels that make our food more expensive actually make a difference?

After My Time At International Labor Rights Forum

By Adriane Chavarria, high school intern, International Labor Rights Forum

As of today I have been a part of ILRF for about 6 months now. My time at ILRF has been great. I’ve learned about a lot of the things that Trina and her co-workers fight for. I learned about many laws that I didn’t know before. I was a junior but now I’m officially a senior at Bell MHS. Becoming this was very hard in a sense that I had to make sure all my work and grades were in tip top shape. I took time away from ILRF because school was getting hectic. While being gone I’ve noticed a change in how I see things.

Chocolate, bitter sweet chocolate; I was never really a fan of chocolate but I do admit to eating it, only now not so much. Every time I see a chocolate bar I think of ILRF. I think and wonder to myself of how this non-profit organization is trying to protect the rights of those who grow this very chocolate. One of my friends, Margarita plays a big role in me having to think so much, which isn’t bad. She loves chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, she loves it all. When she offers me some I sometimes say no only because I wonder where it came from and if I’m eating the chocolate that people have suffered to make.

Amanda Camacho: Organized a Union to Defend Her Rights!

THIS STORY IS PART OF ILRF'S WORKING MOTHERS' STORIES SERIES. EVERY DAY BEFORE MOTHER'S DAY, ILRF FEATURED A DIFFERENT WORKING MOTHER AROUND THE WORLD. AMANDA SHARED HER EMPOWERING STORY WITH AUDIENCES ACROSS THE COUNTRY AS PART OF HER MOTHER'S DAY SPEAKING TOUR.

My name is Amanda Camacho, I’m a single mother and I have two adolescent boys. I have been working in the Colombian flower sector for 17 years, and I started when I was 17 years old.  I’ve been at the Agricola Papagayo company for 14 years. I work in the greenhouse maintaining and cutting carnations.

We decided to form our union, Asopapagayo, an affiliate with the independent union, Untraflores, because we were tired of being disrespected and exploited by our employer. The union began on February 14, 2008, which is also Valentine’s Day and the International Day for Flower Workers, because the company were taking drastic measure to fire many of its formal, contracted workers.  The company replaced many of the formal workers who had worked at the company for over ten years with temporary workers from cooperatives or other agencies who have no rights.  They also gave the employees who remained more work to make up for those that got fired.  They exploit the temporary workers more because they don’t have signed contracts and they don’t pay them for overtime, vacation days, or the right to medical coverage. The temporary workers are also prohibited from organizing themselves to become union members.

Colombian Flower Workers on Strike as Mother's Day Arrives

Lupita Aguila, Program Coordinator, USLEAP

This week, flower workers from two distinct plantations in Colombia went on strike after their companies failed to pay their wages and benefits. On May 6, 2009, workers from Camino Real and Degaflores had no other choice than to declare an official work stoppage when both companies did not meet an April 30 payment agreement of backwages from the month before. According to UNTRAFLORES, a Colombian organization of flower worker unions, workers had no other choice than to go on strike.

In fact, violations like wage theft are very common within the Colombian flower sector. With Mother's Day ahead flower workers are forced to 12-16 hours of tedious labor, exposed to high levels of pesticide intoxication, and repressed their right to freedom of association.  Over 60% of the cut-flowers sold in the U.S. are from Colombia.  As part of a national tour sponsored by the U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project (USLEAP), the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), and Jobs with Justice South Florida (JwJ), Amanda Camacho, a flower worker from Colombia and member of UNTRAFLORES, will be speaking on National Public Radio's Worldview on Friday, May 8, 2009 at 12PM (CST) to discuss the ongoing issues and struggles in the flower industry. 

My First Time at a Rally (and doing a workshop)

By Adriane Chavarria, high school intern, International Labor Rights Forum

For the first time I was asked to attend a conference at Swarthmore College for high school students to do a workshop.  The conference was put on by United Students Against Sweatshops as part of their broader work to work with high school students. This workshop was about the Fairness in Flowers campaign of the International Labor Rights Forum.

My day started off with a great discussion with hotel workers. Afterwards I participated in an Action to support the hotel workers. We had to go to a hotel and march for the rights of the hotel workers. While I was doing this, I was really nervous having to yell and chant.  Once having gone around the block I started to adjust to my surroundings and realized that everybody here was on the same side supporting the same issue.  This put me at ease and I started to chant with no hesitation. I really felt accomplished after looking pass my shyness.  All the students went back on the vans and headed home after attending the action.  We went into a room to talk about what we had just did and how we felt about it and if we would like to do it again or not. We pretty much debriefed about what went on in the action.

Colombia: International Day of the Flower Worker

By Lupita Aguila, Program Coordinator, USLEAP

While many Americans celebrated St. Valentine’s Day with their loved ones, flower workers who were working on average up to 12 hours a day leading up to the holiday met this past Wednesday evening at their union office in Facatativa, Colombia, a 90-minute drive from Bogota, to talk about various issues at their flower plantations. I had the opportunity to meet these workers and hear their stories that contradict the image that the flowers growers association has been marketing in the U.S. this Valentine’s Day. Thirty-five women and men from 6 unions gathered for two hours discussing horrid working conditions and company violations on each and every plantation that produce specifically for the U.S. market for Valentine´s Day. Among their complaints, these flower workers are subjected not only to 12-hour work days, but late payment of wages, little or no access to healthcare for themselves and their families, exploitation of subcontracted workers, and lack of freedom of association.

The Day of the Flower Workers

By Carol Hansen, Intern, USLEAP

Corporación CACTUS, a non-governmental organization in Colombia that supports cut-flower industry workers, first introduced the Day of the Flower Workers in 2001 to recognize and honor their rights. This February 14th, I think it’s important to remember not only all flower workers, but also the women of the flower industry. The flower industry in Colombia (and Ecuador) has long been criticized for the exploitation of its workers. It is important to remember that out of nearly 110,000 workers employed by the Colombia cut-flower industry, 66% are women.

Women are disproportionately affected by work in the flower industry, particularly due to the widespread disrespect for women’s rights, exposure to high levels of pesticides, unsafe working conditions, and violations of the right to organize. Men are the ones promoted to supervisor and managerial positions, even though women make up more than half the workforce. Women are not given opportunities for advancement and remain at entry-level positions. They are forced to move from plantation to plantation under short-term contracts, whereas men are provided training and usually work on long-term contracts.

Victories in the Flower Industry at Long Last!

By Charity Ryerson, Program Coordinator, and Cecily Harwitt, Intern, USLEAP

Even amidst the hazardous and violent conditions for unionists in Colombia, strong leaders and unified coalitions persist in demanding basic rights for workers on flower plantations there. The hard work has finally started to pay off, as several unions announced major victories this month.

Keep reading to find out about these exciting victories!