Colombian Flower Workers Fired for Organizing

by Dollars and Sense

Remember the brief mention of the US-Colombia Trade Pact during the presidential debates? Contrary to the standard line in the business press, labor conditions in Colombia are far from free. In fact, more trade unionists were killed in the first 8 months of 2008 than in all of 2007.

And our friends at US/LEAP have notified us of new labor violations:

On November 11, Jose Alexander Montenegro, Jose Abel Rincon, Samuel Rico, Juan Bautista Lopez, Milton Paez and Sergio Fabian Bossa were illegally fired from the Mongibello flower plantation just outside of Bogota, Colombia.

All 6 workers had been at the plantation for over 15 years. Fed up with the labor conditions on the plantations, the workers decided to secretly contact one of Colombia’s labor federations, the CUT, to talk about organizing a union. When management at the plantation discovered their plans, the six workers were immediately fired.

Write to the management of the Mongibello plantation and tell them illegal firings are unacceptable!

Click here for more information and to sign on to an action alert.

Labels: Colombia, flowers, labor organizing, US-Colombian Free Trade Agreement, US/LEAP

 

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11/19/2008 01:06:00 PM 0 comments

 

Murders of trade unionists go unpunished in Colombia

by Dollars and Sense

This from an Economic Snapshot from the Economic Policy Institute is by Tony Avirgan:

Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists. Over the past 21 years, more than 2,534 unionists have been assassinated. (The Escuela Nacional Sindical has documented 2,534 assassinations but says there are surely more that have not been reported.)

President Alvaro Uribe was elected in 2002 and again in 2006 promising a crackdown on violence. His policies have resulted in a decrease in guerrilla violence, but there has been an increase in extrajudicial executions perpetrated by right-wing death squads and security forces (Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) news release, October 18, 2007). Assassinations of trade unionists have decreased, but so have prosecutions of the assassins. For the past two years, none of the killers of trade unionists has been brought to trial in Colombia.

Now, despite public outcry over these appalling human rights abuses and the firm opposition of U.S. and Colombian unions, the Bush administration is seeking to reward Uribe with a free-trade agreement.

Luciano Vasquez, Director General of the Escuela Nacional Sindical, will address these issues at a Global Policy Network forum on Wednesday, February 27th. Click here for further information and to RSVP.

See also several articles from Dollars & Sense about the dangers of organizing in the palm oil, cut flower, and bottled beverage industries in Colombia: Blood on the Palms, Oil-Palm Plantations on Afro-Colombian Lands, Stop Killer Coke!, Some Roses Don't Smell So Sweet, and "Organizing Rural Labor in Colombia" (D&S November/December 2006, available only in the print edition).

Labels: assassinations, Colombia, unions, Uribe, US-Colombian Free Trade Agreement

 

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2/26/2008 02:45:00 PM 2 comments

 

Some Roses Don't Smell So Sweet

by Dollars and Sense

Before you order those overpriced roses for your Valentine's Day sweetie, consider a few disturbing facts from our friends at US/LEAP:

• Flower workers are primarily women who work long hours, especially before holidays like Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day, are paid poverty-level wages, and face hazardous working conditions
• Over 60% of flowers bought in the U.S. come from Colombia
• Nearly 100,000 flower workers are employed in Colombia, most of whom are women
• The largest grower and exporter of flowers from Colombia is Dole, which is also the largest exporter of flowers from Latin America to the U.S.
• Dole announced in October 2006 that it would close its largest plantation in Colombia following a two-year campaign by its workers to improve wages and working conditions and form a union.

US/LEAP is organizing a speaking tour of a worker at one one of the Dole plantations. Dora Acero will be traveling through cities in the Midwest in April. Contact Cryerson(at)usleap.org to get involved. Also visit US/LEAP for more ways to help support the rights of flower workers in Colombia.

OK, so what should you buy your loved ones? Fair Trade certified chocolate, of course. Some of our favorites include:

Equal Exchange
Art Bars

And if flowers are still the thing, you can now get them from Fair Trade certified sellers.

Labels: chocolate, Colombia, economic alternatives, fair trade, flowers, labor, US/LEAP, worker rights

 

Please consider donating to Dollars & Sense and/or subscribing to the magazine (both print and e-subscriptions now available!).
2/06/2008 03:31:00 PM 0 comments