Fairness in Flowers Campaign

posted May 14, 2003

Campaign for Labor Rights joins with the International Labor Rights Fund in their Fairness in Flowers Campaign. For more details, please visit the ILRF website.

The International Labor Rights Fund, a Washington-based non-governmental organization, has launched a new Fairness in Flowers Campaign for Mother’s Day, a holiday that accounts for a large part of the cut flower sales in the United States. The Campaign will raise awareness in the US about labor rights violations and health and safety problems in the cut flower industry in Ecuador and Colombia, and seek improvements through action in the US and Latin America.

A survey of 8000 workers in plantations near Bogotá found that workers were exposed to 127 different pesticides, three of which are considered extremely toxic by the World Health Organization. In addition, 20% of these pesticides are banned or not registered for use in the US or Canada because they are extremely toxic and carcinogenic. To make matters worse, greenhouses are not always completely cleared of people while fumigation is going on, and an ILO survey found that only 22% of Ecuadorian flower companies trained their workers in the use of chemicals.

Two-thirds of Colombian and Ecuadorian flower workers suffer from work-related health problems, including headaches, nausea, impaired vision, conjunctivitis, rashes, asthma, stillbirths, miscarriages, congenital malformations and respiratory and neurological problems.

Child labor is also a serious problem in the industry, and pesticide exposure affects children more severely than adults. The ILO estimates that 20% of the 60,000 Ecuadorian flower workers are children.

Flower industry employers routinely violate the labor rights norms of both national law and ILO Conventions. Over 70 percent of Ecuadorian and Colombian flower workers are women, and there are reports of illegal pregnancy tests for new workers. Women are often fired if they become pregnant. Before Mother’s Day, workers work 50-60 hours per week and are often not paid overtime.

Workers are also unjustly dismissed for trying to organize unions. Of the hundreds of flower companies located in Ecuador, only three have unions. Third-party contracting practices also severely limit freedom of association. The subcontracted workers are shuffled between different companies every few months so that their employers can avoid having to affiliate them with social security, and a constantly changing workforce also inhibits serious attempts at organizing.

The Campaign will pressure cut flower producers to respect and improve working conditions and health protections, and pressure US retailers to demand change from their suppliers.The Campaign will also work directly with partner organizations and flower workers in Colombia and Ecuador to educate workers about their rights under the labor code and provide legal advice services for workers and assistance in filing complaints regarding unfair dismissals and discrimination.

As the major importer of Colombian and Ecuadorian cut flowers, American consumers are in a unique position to be able to press for better working conditions in the industry.

The United States imports 45% of Ecuador’s cut flowers, and 50% of the flowers sold in the U.S. were grown in the Savanna region near Bogotá, Colombia. U.S.-based company Dole controls 20% of Colombia’s flower exports. ILRF’s Campaign will urge Dole and major U.S. flower retailers such as Albertson’s, Safeway, Costco, and Wal-Mart to pressure their suppliers to respect the rights of their workers by complying with the following standards:

1. Respect core labor rights. These include:
   • Right to freedom of association
   • Elimination of child labor
   • A workplace free from discrimination
   • Right to organize and bargain collectively
2. Consistently implement protective measures to protect the health and safety of the workers:
   • Only use the chemicals that have been approved by the EPA or a European entity of equal stature.
   • Record pesticide use data and make this information available to workers and the public.
   • Provide all workers with waterproof protective gear free of charge.
   • Train all workers in the proper use of chemicals and risk prevention.
   • Ensure that all flower workers leave the greenhouses prior to fumigation.
   • Establish workplace committees on industrial safety and hygiene.
3. Pay overtime wages and stop using short fixed-term contracts as a way to deny job security, pensions, maternity leave, health and injury insurance, and the right to organize.

Endorsements

The variety of problems in the flower industry makes the situation a matter of concern for human rights and environmental organizations as well as labor groups. Many U.S. organizations are recognizing the need to take action to promote improved working conditions and environmental protection. The Campaign for Labor Rights will work with ILRF to support efforts of workers in this industry to organize unions to allow them to advocate for improved conditions.

The Fairness in Flowers Campaign is endorsed by:

• The Resource Center of the Americas
• Global Exchange
• The Pesticide Action Network of North America
• The Campaign for Labor Rights
• The US/Labor Education in the Americas Project