Reply #12: Continuing struggle in Colombia, among workers with the Dole Company [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Dole Flower Workers in Trouble Again
Tell Dole It's Time to Quit Playing Games and Negotiate Contracts. Period.

Dole Fresh Flowers has revealed itself as an anti-union company in recent years, engaging in numerous union-busting tactics while presenting a public face of corporate social responsibility. After destroying the strongest independent union in the Colombian flower industry, Sintrasplendor, in 2006, Dole is now finding itself on the brink of another union struggle.

At Flores la Fragancia, another fully-owned subsidiary of Dole Fresh Flowers in Colombia, the Untrafragancia union formed in early February 2006. By the end of their first month, it claimed 200 affiliates, almost two-thirds of the plantation's workers. Workers say they joined the union in response to poor working conditions, labor rights violations, and mistreatment from management. Flower workers often endure long work days, repetitive stress injuries from excessive work loads, and pesticide-related illnesses such as respiratory infections, nausea and vomiting, and reproductive problems. Female flower workers report that pregnancy tests are often a pre-requisite of employment.

Sinaltraflor, a company-friendly union used systematically by Dole and other flower companies to prevent the establishment of independent unions, has effectively prevented Untrafragancia from negotiating with Dole for almost two years.

More:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1618/t/3754/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=6572

Website:
http://www.usleap.org/actions