Banana Unions 10th Conference Approves 2010-2011 Action Plan

Members of all of the affiliate unions of the Coordination of Latin American Banana and Agro-industrial Unions (COLSIBA) met in Peru from August 4-8, 2009 to reaffirm the driving mission of the organization and to define new lines of actions for the next two years.  COLSIBA represents most of Latin America’s unionized banana workers, regardless of nation, ideology, or transnational (e.g. Dole, Chiquita, Bonita, and Del Monte).  In recent years, COLSIBA has begun to move beyond the banana sector to other agricultural areas, including pineapple, palm oil, and melon.

The first two days of meeting were held by the Women´s Coordinating body and resulted in resolutions to promote gender equality in the workplace. Following meetings focused on strategizing to confront the realities currently affecting these unions including the coup in Honduras, Fair Trade certifications, violence against unionists in Guatemala and Colombia, and issues facing migrants that work in these sectors, among others. Additionally, COLSIBA elected new leadership to guide the next two years of work coordinating campaigns to promote respect for workers in the banana and agro-industrial sectors.

Dole Campaign Reaffirmed

Earlier, COLSIBA leadership called for a reinvigoration of an international campaign against Dole.   EUROBAN (the European Banana Action Network), USLEAP, the IUF (the International Union of Foodworkers) and COLSIBA will release an updated  edition of the primary campaign document, Dole, behind the smokescreen, in October.  English and Spanish versions of the document will be available on the USLEAP website.  

There were no reported developments regarding a lawsuit filed against Dole in April that accuses the company of funding paramilitaries in Colombia to carry out assassinations of trade unionists. 

Multi-Stakeholder Forum

The COLSIBA conference also discussed participation in a Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF) conference to be held in Rome, Italy in December 2009.   A recommendation for establishing the MSF was approved at the Second International Banana Conference in 2005 to create space for all key actors in the banana industry to consider broad-based solutions to a range of issues, including respect for labor rights, the use of chemicals in workspaces, and the contracting of more women.   USLEAP is the U.S. member of the MSF Preparatory Committee, joining COLSIBA, EUROBAN, the IUF, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), and banana companies.  

Fair Trade Concerns

At its conference in Peru, COLSIBA opted for now to defer any public campaigning against Fair Trade bananas in the hope that more dialogue will yield progress in addressing union concerns (see the USLEAP Summer 2009 newsletter, available on line or upon request, for a review of COLSIBA’s concerns).   The coordinating body for Fair Trade, Fair Labelling Organizations (FLO), is involved in a series of meetings with the IUF, COLSIBA and others in an effort to reach a resolution on banana unions’ and other unions’ long-standing concerns regarding Fair Trade certification.

COLSIBA, however, denounced Rainforest Alliance’s certification program and began preparations for a campaign.  Rainforest bananas have been marketed in Europe for several years but yet to be introduced into the U.S. 

Rainforest, and Fair Trade, are both marketing certified flowers in the U.S. market; flower unions in Colombia have criticized both certification schemes, saying that conditions on certified plantations are not acceptable.

Similarly, consideration of a Fair Trade label for apparel to be sold in the U.S. has sparked significant discussion and concerns from anti-sweatshop groups in the U.S.   Several groups are in dialogue with Transfair USA to try to address various issues.  

The global union federation representing apparel workers worldwide is opposed to any Fair Trade label unless it is limited to factories where workers are unionized and have a contract, i.e. a union label.