Posted by James Parks to AFL-CIO NOW
For two years, flower workers in Colombia withstood a vicious anti-union campaign—and now their solidarity has paid off.
Last month, workers at the Splendor and La Fragancia flower plantations signed contracts with Dole Fresh Flowers, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Dole Food Co. and the largest grower and exporter of flowers from Colombia. After the workers at the two plantations formed unions in 2004 and 2005, the company refused to negotiate bargaining agreements with these unions. Instead, it negotiated a “sweetheart” deal with a company union that gave almost no benefits to the workers. Dole also launched anti-union campaigns that included closing its largest flower plantation after a two-year effort by workers there to form a union.
The workers, however, remained steadfast in their determination to get a fair contract. The Colombian government granted arbitration in the negotiations after Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, called on Colombia’s president to intervene.
Under the arbitrators’ ruling, the workers at the Splendor plantation will receive significant improvements in conditions and wages, including a bonus between $200 and $400, a $14 a month raise that will bring most flower workers to a monthly salary of about $215 and improvements in vacation and sick leave.
Workers at the La Fragrancia plantation will receive a 6 percent pay increase, bonuses for punctuality, additional pay for fumigation workers who are exposed to hazardous chemicals and an education stipend so that flower workers can send their children to school.
U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project (USLEAP), an advocacy group promoting labor rights in Latin America, has been urging Dole to address workers’ rights on its banana and flower plantations. Click here to learn more about USLEAP’s flower campaign.
More than 60 percent of the flowers sold in the United States come from Colombia. Two-thirds of the nearly 100,000 flower workers in Colombia are women, many of them working mothers. They often are required to work 12–to–15-hour days with few breaks, especially in the weeks before holidays like Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day. As a result, many have been injured on the job and suffer health problems related to overexposure to pesticides and humiliating and degrading treatment by management. All for poverty-level wages.