New Dole Flower Campaign Heats Up in Colombia; U.S. Support Campaign Expands

Flower workers in Colombia are preparing for a major push against Dole Fresh Flowers over the next few months. Dole is the largest producer and exporter of flowers in Colombia, which supplies the majority of flowers bought in the U.S.

The Untrafragancia union claims wide representation on Dole's Fragancia plantation and hopes to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement in December.

In December 2005, the company-friendly union on the Fragancia flower plantation, Sinaltraflor, signed a two-year contract with Dole. Untrafragancia reports that this contract does not include any benefits for workers and may have been a step back from a prior agreement.

In late July, Sinaltraflor members distributed personalized disaffiliation forms to all Untrafragancia affiliates in an attempt to gain new members directly out of the Untrafragancia ranks. Each Untrafragancia affiliate was urged to sign three documents: a disaffiliation from Untrafragancia, a disaffiliation from Untraflores, and an affiliation to Sinaltraflor.

As union membership lists are not publicly available, the personalized paperwork suggests that Sinaltraflor may have acquired a list from the company or the Ministry of Social Protection.

Splendor's Main Plantation Finally Closes

The slow conclusion of the struggle to establish an independent union at Dole's Splendor El Corzo flower plantation finally reached an end this summer as the 40 workers who remained at the plantation were laid off in mid-August. The Sintrasplendor union, which was decimated by the closure, is now struggling to continue with its members on the El Rosal plantation, also a Dole Splendor farm. El Rosal will remain open and is still attempting to negotiate a contract with the company.

The negotiations, originally led by union leaders from both plantations, came to an impasse in May when Dole refused to offer any real benefits or salary increases to workers. The union then requested the Ministry of Social Protection to schedule arbitration tribunal date but has yet to receive a response.

U.S. Campaign Grows

Meanwhile, the U.S. campaign against Dole Fresh Flowers is growing stronger. In addition to the International Labor Rights Forum and the South Florida Jobs with Justice Flower Committee, who were active in the Splendor campaign, two additional organizations joined the coalition this summer. Choice USA, a reproductive rights organization, and the Student Labor Action Project, a joint project of the United States Students Association and Jobs with Justice, are laying the groundwork for a higher level of student involvement in this campaign.

USLEAP is excited about the fresh faces and new energy coming to this campaign. With the increasing level of intensity on the ground in Colombia, the addition of these two important organizations could not have come at a better time.

Flower Union Dissolved, Executive Committee Fired

The difficulty of organizing independent unions in Colombia's flower sector was underscored when Sintracondor, a small union on the Flores Condor plantation in Colombia, was dissolved by a court order on August 23rd 2007, after struggling for survival for over two years. Plantation management then fired eight female workers who comprised the majority of the union's Executive Committee, reportedly making false accusations to establish just cause for their dismissal.

The union reported discrimination at the plantation, including lower salaries for union members, firing union affiliates, threatening workers who tried to affiliate, and "systematically requiring workers to sign letters of union disaffiliation, with the objective of dissolving it."

At the Flores de la Sabana farm, another Untraflores union carried out a two-month long strike this spring to prohibit the plantation from closing. While the farm eventually closed, the struggle was inspirational to many workers in the flower industry in the region and the laid-off workers continue to be active in the union.