The producing companies and their two trade associations, OBAM-CI and OCAB on the one hand, and the recently established national trade union federation of banana workers, FETBACI, on the other, spent two days of intense social dialogue to reach an agreement on drafting a sectoral framework for negotiations on wages and other aspects of decent work. Crucial inputs were made by the national research institute CIRES-CI on current remuneration systems and wage levels, by the ILO West Africa office on “setting adequate wages” and the newly agreed guidelines on “decent work for agroindustry“. The IUF African banana workers’ coordination provided important context on the evolution of trade unionism in the sector over the last decade, and the French-based research institute CIRAD shared valuable information on the current market situation and a new tool for assessing the standard of living in banana workers communities known as the ‘Neighbour’ methodology.

The programme of work was made possible through the support of the IDH and six European retailers that source bananas in Côte d’Ivoire bananas : Tesco (who write more about their living wage commitments and the Cote d’Ivoire programme here) , Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, Carrefour, Lidl France and Aldi Nord. 

Highlights from 2021 to 2023

After initial discussions with stakeholders in Côte d’Ivoire on a joint national approach with businesses and trade unions, the retailers agreed to support a process that would prepare the sector for collective bargaining towards living wages for all workers. This included the collection and validation of wage data, with retailers committing to contribute to wage improvements, thereby acknowledging their shared responsibility.

A team from the independent research institute CIRES-CI took on the role of interface in the collection and validation of data and produced a report setting out the information gathered. Two validation meetings with the eight trade unions present in two companies were also conducted by CIRES-CI.

Banana Link delivered two training workshops on living wages and collective bargaining, with support from the IUF African banana worker’ coordination, bringing together 45 trade unionists, half of them women. These training activities were crucial in ensuring that workers’ representatives and their organisations not only understand the different roles of stakeholders along the value chain, and the tools being used to assess wages by buyers and certifiers but are also empowered to engage in permanent dialogue with their employers on issues around remuneration systems and actual wages.

During the course of the programme other enabling factors that helped the parties reach agreement on the way forward came into play :

• The companies in the sector increasingly came together around issues of certification, living wages, wage systems, etc., thereby facilitating the construction of a national sectoral effort.
• After a number of meetings and consultation activities, in February 2023, ten trade unions from four companies set up a national federation bringing together the majority of workers in the sector for the first time, thereby opening up the opportunity to be the legitimate social partner in a national framework for negotiating with companies in the sector.
• The Ivorian government authorities carried out a review of the national minimum wage and consulted agro-industrial companies on the issue of setting minimum wages (SMIG and SMAG).
• Retailers in four European countries made public commitments to guarantee living wages throughout their banana supply chains and, most recently, stated that the most sustainable way to achieve this is through collective bargaining.

Banana Link’s International Coordinator, Alistair Smith, commenting on the successful programme, stated :

« Despite the difficulties of undertaking such a programme during the pandemic, the key players in the country have now agreed a solid national strategy to present to retail buyers and certifiers in the coming months. We are hoping that the retailers involved, and others who wish to join the movement, will recognise the importance of the route laid out to achieve living remuneration for all and will support through fair prices and other contributions to ensure that the process is a success. »

Retailers are invited to Côte d’Ivoire in September to visit plantations, discuss the progress with the national plan with the companies and trade unions, and share concrete commitments of their support for closing gaps between actual wages and living wages for the lowest paid workers.

The post Côte d’Ivoire : joint strategy to negotiate living wages agreed by producers and trade unions appeared first on Banana Link.

Gilbert Bermudez, is a former banana farm worker and Costa Rican trade union leader, who went on to coordinate the Latin American trade union coordinating body COLSIBA for over 15 years. Here he writes on the absolute necessity of involving trade unions in living wage implementation processes for banana and other agro-industrial farm workers. 

A living wage is a necessity for banana workers in Latin America and worldwide. The challenge remains around who establishes wage rates and how they are implemented.

This necessity has been understood for many years. As far back as 1998, banana industry stakeholders acknowledged the need for all supply chain actors to work together and prevent a ‘race to the bottom’, by increasing the price of fruit and ensuring decent work and living wages for workers. This was raised in 1998 and again in 2005, at the first international banana conferences held in Brussels.

10 years ago, in 2013, the Coordinating Body of Latin American Banana and Agro-industrial Unions (COLSIBA), responded to proposals to increase the price of fruit with the following statement:

“We believe that a negotiated solution is urgently needed, one that breaks with the logic used in the past, where other stakeholders have agreed to exclude workers and their legitimate organisations, in order to prevent them from organising independently and bargaining collectively for their rights and wages. This is the only path that will lead to an effective minimisation of the poverty experienced by workers in the agro-industrial sector.”   

Up until this time, while far from perfect, labour relations on banana plantations in Central and South America had been relatively stable. In some countries, like Costa Rica, the situation was complex and difficult. But the majority of Central American countries were characterised by mature labour relations, and movements towards gender equity, environmental protection and the protection of labour rights were being made. There was not the level of female exclusion and sexual harassment of women workers that is prevalent today, for example. At plantation level, this meant much more respectful relationships between workers and their employers and more stable negotiations.

About 15 years ago, in 2013, labour relations began to break down and this came hand-in-hand with the ‘race to the bottom’.  Today, the examples we can look to for mature labour relations between independent workers unions and plantation management are very few. 

So, what should we propose for achieving living wages for banana plantation workers today? 

Among the few examples left in 2023, Colombia is without a doubt the ‘holy grail’. Here we can observe what is possible with the existence of decent, transparent labour-relations. In Colombia, there is total inclusion of women in the labour force, a formidable collective agreement, impressive social benefits – including student scholarships – and a 14% pay rise has that just been negotiated. Who can give a better example of dignity for banana plantation workers, and their families? 

I do not see any other way to achieve living wages in banana supply chains, in any other scenario, apart from in those countries where there is collective bargaining, where there are mature and stable labour relations. Colombia is the best example, and European supermarkets should be buying their bananas from Colombia and other countries that follow the Colombian example. Only by involving our workers organisations in all stages of the living wage process will we be able to make a genuine impact on their lives. 

It is crucial to understand that the concept of a ‘living wage’ is not only about the wage itself. It also encompasses wider aspects of employment such as job security, safe work, healthcare and social security coverage, an environment of mutual respect between workers and their employers and zero sexual harassment in the workplace.

Collective bargaining is essential

All this is only possible through collective bargaining, between farm owners and independent trade union organisations. This is the process that should be promoted to implement living wages on farms. Other approaches that involve only producers and buyers, while excluding workers, have failed in the past and will continue to fail.

The reality is that there exists no mathematic formula that is adequate for calculating the living wage. Please be under no delusion: living wage can only be defined from within the context of mature labour relations and collective bargaining by independent workers unions. Technical, academic methodologies that claim to define living wages for workers, in reality have the effect of excluding them from participating in a process in which the outcome directly affects their lives. In Latin America, and elsewhere, this doesn’t work. For example, you can see in Ecuador, that the living wage reference value has been calculated as almost the same as the national minimum wage – this doesn’t add up. Living wage is, and has always been, part of a wider social and environmental question, linked to gender equity, women’s inclusion, human rights, and ultimately human relationships. Supermarkets and other actors should not become over-engaged with these technical and academic tools. 

Even the Fairtrade system, with its minimum price and workers premium, does negate the need for workers representation through independent unions. Without it, even workers on Fairtrade certified farms, in Dominican Republic or in Peru, are not guaranteed a living wage. 

In all scenarios, there is no magic formula for defining the living wage – rather there exists a practical formula: a formula that is not defined by academics in London and implemented from above, but is genuinely context-based, and that comes from the ground – from plantation-level reality, from stable, mature labour relations such as those that exist in Colombia. 

It is important to mention that several supermarkets have already taken a step forward on this route to living wages. The challenge is to recognise that this process is not only for the supermarkets to solve, rather it must be a collaboration between all those involved in the fruit production and marketing chain. The results could be significant.

The post Blog: Advancing living wages: Impossible without collective bargaining appeared first on Banana Link.

This article was originally published in Eurofruit Magazine.

First the Dutch, then the Germans, then the Belgians and now the British. Over 20 major food retailers are now committed to ensuring the payment of wages that at least cover the basic cost of living for banana plantation and packhouse workers in their suppliers across a dozen countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. In the case of bananas sold in the nine biggest British supermarkets, the commitment is to ensure living wages by the end of 2027.

This is a huge step forward. Nearly 20 years ago, when Banana Link and one of the UK supermarkets did a first study on wages, we were able to show the gaps between actual take-home pay and the basic costs of living for many categories of worker. Those gaps have varied over time, but in some countries they are still considerable.

In the meantime, much effort and substantial resources have gone into methods of calculating these wage gaps and in the last few years suppliers have been asked by retailers to provide information on actual wages, so that plans can be made for how gaps are to be closed.

Clearly, one of the key issues is around price. If prices paid to suppliers are not enough to allow for producers to invest in higher wages, then the best-laid plans will not succeed. Although 2023 banana contract prices are higher across the board than in the past, much or all of this higher price is absorbed by higher costs of production and transport.

If the extra contributions to closing living wage gaps can be ring-fenced in commercial contracts, then the question arises as to how those workers who do not earn living wages currently are to be remunerated better from now on. If these initiatives are to generate the results that the retailers want and that workers require, then the most sustainable solution has to be through the process of collective bargaining between trade unions of workers and the producers who employ them.

One-off bonuses may be of short- term benefit, but when these cease, workers are back to where they started, with wages that are inadequate to cover their basic costs of living. If living wages can be enshrined in legally binding collective agreements, recognised by the law in all the countries concerned, then the increases can be sustained over time.

At a meeting in April with a dozen of the retailers and trade unions from Latin America and Africa, the central role that workers and their trade unions have to play in these initiatives was recognised. It now remains to build the permanent relationships and ensure that workers’ voices drive the good work to which the supermarkets have committed themselves.

As one participant put it: “Any discussion around the implementation of living wages should always be a discussion WITH workers, and not ABOUT them”. The path ahead is ambitious and requires a lot of work from many parties to achieve what most consumers believe is the right thing to do. Banana Link looks forward to the day when no banana sold in any of these countries has been produced by anybody not earning at least a basic minimum. For this to happen, there need to be major changes in the way some producer companies deal with the relationship with their workforce. If living wages can be the lever for such changes, then the retailer-led initiatives will not have been in vain.

The post Retailers Commit to Ensuring Living Wages for all Banana Workers appeared first on Banana Link.

La lucha por los derechos laborales en el Ecuador sigue repleta de obstáculos. Las corporaciones y los oligarcas aún ejercen mucho poder impositivo sobre los y las trabajadores. Por ejemplo, en 2020, la empresa SUMIFRUTAS SA despidió ilegalmente a 30 trabajadores por formar un sindicato. A todo esto se añade que el nuevo ministro de agricultura es Bernardo Manzano, un ex-gerente de la Corporación Noboa que pasó los últimos 30 años en la empresa ascendiendo de rango.

El sector bananero necesita un cambio urgente. Tras reuniones con ONGs europeas el pasado abril, el llamado ‘Clúster Bananero’ ha propuesto establecer una ‘mesa redonda’ de diálogo vinculada al Foro Mundial Bananero para tratar asuntos laborales y promover el diálogo dentro de la industria bananera. Banana Link expresa optimismo, con un futuro rol apoyando la mesa.

A continuación, relatamos las dificultades a las que se enfrentaron los y las trabajadores de la Hacienda Los Álamos a Puerto Inca en la Provincia de Guayas en el mes de mayo del 2002.

Bonita: Bananos Feos – Directora: Jan Nimmo © from Jan Nimmo on Vimeo.

El 1 de mayo, un grupo de trabajadores bananeros junto con FENACLE (predecesora de SINUTRABE como motor de la organización laboral en el sector agroindustrial) iniciaron protestas exigiendo mejoras en sus condiciones laborales y el derecho a sindicalizarse. En aquel momento, el sector bananero ecuatoriano estaba entre los salarios más bajos y peores condiciones laborales de toda América Latina, y en el Ecuador llevaban treinta años sin ningún sindicato de trabajadores bananeros. Debido a las protestas y la presión internacional que generaron, los trabajadores y activistas consiguieron la aprobación de 3 sindicatos. Poco después, los trabajadores de Los Álamos hicieron una huelga para exigir una mejora en sus derechos fundamentales y en sus condiciones laborales.

Esto nos lleva a lo sucedido el 16 de mayo, tras diez días de huelga. En medio de la noche, los trabajadores fueron sacados a la fuerza de sus dormitorios por un grupo de rompehuelgas armados, que golpearon e hirieron a muchos trabajadores además de disparar a uno de ellos. Lo peor es que el plan original era encerrar a entre 60 y 70 trabajadores en el contenedor de un camión, donde habrían muerto asfixiados, y arrojar el contenedor a un río cercano. Para prevenir la masacre pincharon las ruedas del camión y la llegada de Jan Nimmo para documentar el ataque pareció calmar la situación. Pero no duró mucho porque poco después, ante la presencia de policías que se limitaban a observar y nada más, los rompehuelgas entraron a la plantación y dispararon a los trabajadores. Un total de 19 de los trabajadores sufrieron heridas ese día, incluyendo a Mauro Romero a quien tuvieron que amputarle la pierna.

La plantación pertenecía al Grupo Noboa. Su fundador fue Álvaro Noboa, el hombre más rico del Ecuador (y de América Latina en años anteriores). Cuando se iniciaron las negociaciones con el sindicato, él y su empresa – dueña de la marca Bonita – negaron cualquier implicación. Dieciséis de los atacantes fueron detenidos y condenados por posesión ilegal de armas de fuego, pero sus condenas fueron anuladas poco después. Durante los seis meses siguientes se siguieron cometiendo injerencias contra el sindicato, se despidieron a más de 120 trabajadores por sindicalizarse, y tras muchas dificultades tuvieron que disolver el sindicato. Álvaro Noboa, que lleva desde 1998 repitiendo su candidatura en las elecciones presidenciales, no tuvo que afrontar ninguna consecuencia.

Día Internacional de los Trabajadores 2022

Trabajadores valerosos en toda América Latina salieron a conmemorar el Primero de Mayo de 2022 y a reivindicar sus derechos laborales.

Las compañeras y compañeros de los sindicatos de Ecuador, tales como el Comité de Trabajadores de Empresa Florequisa, organizaron una marcha en Quito en el que reivindicaron estabilidad laboral y la protección del Instituto Ecuatoriano de la Seguridad Social.

^{Foto: Comité de Trabajadores de Empresa Florequisa}

En Guatemala, el Sindicato de Trabajadores de Embotelladora Central SA Coca Cola (STECSA) lideró una marcha para conmemorar a los trabajadores que murieron o fueron detenidos y desaparecieron luchando por sus derechos. Las compañeras y compañeros reivindicaron también la subida del salario mínimo y protestaron contra el gobierno, que no se ha interesado en beneficiar a la clase obrera.

^{Foto: STECSA}

En Panamá se hizo una marcha para reivindicar la unidad de la clase obrera, subida de sueldos y más oportunidades laborales.

^{Foto: SITHA}

Imagen de portada: Bonita: Bananos Feos – Directora: Jan Nimmo ©

The post Blog: Hace 20 años que en Ecuador se formaron los primeros sindicatos del sector bananero. Sus protestas fueron silenciadas con violencia appeared first on Banana Link.

En el marco del proyecto, un grupo nucleo de 10 mujeres trabajadoras y pequeñas agricultoras de las tres principales provincias exportadoras bananeras del país, recibirán una formación
intensiva sobre liderazgo y empoderamiento en una amplia gama de temas que abarcan la no
violencia y el acoso, la legislación laboral dominicana, la política de certificación y las normas
internacionales, las finanzas personales y la alfabetización digital y las habilidades de
comunicación. Una vez concluida esta primera fase, la formación se extenderá a un grupo
mucho más amplio de mujeres en las fincas y plantaciones dominicanas utilizando una
metodología de ´´formación de formadores(as)´´.

La iniciativa , que cuenta con el apoyo financiero de Tesco y Fyffes, está diseñada para incluir a
un grupo diverso de mujeres que representan la realidad de la producción bananera
dominicana. Esto incluye a mujeres propietarias de pequeñas fincas bananeras y trabajadoras
de plantaciones de todo el país, mujeres de origen dominicano y haitiano, mujeres de
diferentes edades y trabajadoras de diferentes plantaciones de todo el país.

La formación está dirigida por la experta en desarrollo dominicano y defensora de los derechos
de las mujeres, la doctora Eliza Sanchez, en colaboración con los socios de Banana Link en el país: SIUTRAPBAM; la unión de trabajadoras bananeras de Montecristi, la organización de
desarrollo Fundación Étnica Integral (FEI) y la ONG centrada en los inmigrantes El Centro de
Investigación y Apoyo Cultural (CIAC).

^{Al lanzamiento asistió el grupo principal de mujeres que participan en la iniciativa de formación en liderazgo y empoderamiento. Los socios locales, los líderes empresariales dominicanos y los representantes del gobierno se dirigieron al grupo.}

¿Por qué necesitan las mujeres en el sector bananero dominicano ser empoderadas?

En línea con las tendencias mundiales, son muy pocas las mujeres empleadas en el sector
bananero dominicano, y las oportunidades de trabajo para las mujeres suelen ser limitadas a
trabajos en las empacadoras o en tareas relacionadas con el servicio en las fincas.

La investigación realizada por Banana Link en 2015 desveló que la proporción de mujeres
empleadas en la industria bananera es de alrededor del 12 % para los(as) trabajadores(as) de
las plantaciones, y que la proporción de pequeñas explotaciones bananeras propiedad de
mujeres es aproximadamente la misma. El mismo estudio descubrió que, aunque todas las
jefas de explotación entrevistadas eran miembros de asociaciones agricultores, solo 4 de cada
101 ocupaban puestos de liderazgo, lo que indica un patrón más amplio de ausencia de las
mujeres en puestos de liderazgo en las organizaciones de productores(as).

La violencia contra las mujeres sigue siendo un problema importante en la República
Dominicana, donde en 2018 se descubrió que un 68.8 % de las mujeres de 15 años o más
habían sufrido alguna forma de violencia en su vida, y la prevalencia de la violencia contra las
mujeres era aún mayor en las zonas rurales. Los informes recientes indican que la violencia y el
acoso están presentes en el 21 % de los lugares de trabajo dominicanos.

Al igual que en otras partes del mundo, las zonas productoras bananeras en la República
Dominicana ofrecen muy pocas fuentes de empleo alternativas. Con una alta prevalencia de
hogares encabezados por mujeres que dependen de los ingresos femeninos para cubrir los
costes de vida, es necesario garantizar que las mujeres de las regiones productoras bananeras
no queden excluidas de la principal fuente de ingresos de que disponen. Es esencial que las
mujeres rurales tengan un empleo digno y accesible.

Un futuro optimista para los(as) trabajadores(as) bananeros(as) dominicanos(as)

La iniciativa está diseñada para generar lecciones sobre estrategias y prácticas que pueden ser
desplegadas a largo plazo para empoderar a las mujeres rurales en las zonas exportadoras
bananeras y aumentar su participación en el liderazgo de las organizaciones de trabajadoras y
productoras. Los materiales y metodologías desarrollados servirán de base para futuros
trabajos de consolidación del papel de las mujeres en la creación de trabajo digno y la
maduración del diálogo social en la industria.

Llega en un momento optimista para la industria bananera dominicana. Los problemas de larga
duración sobre la no regularización de los y las trabajadores y trabajadoras haitianos/ haitianas están siendo abordados por una mesa redonda nacional recientemente formada: una coalición de Comercio Justo, sindicatos, productores(as) bananeros(as) y grupos de la sociedad civil ha ideado una ‘ruta critica’ que permitirá a los(as) trabajadores(as) migrantes de las organizaciones certificadas de
comercio justo obtener un estatus legal, y acceder a los mismos derechos que disfrutan sus
compañeros(as) dominicanos(as). Abordar este tema y garantizar el cumplimiento de las
normas de comercio justo es esencial, teniendo en cuenta que entre el 60 y el 70 % de los
bananos dominicanos cuentan con la certificación de comercio justo, con todos los beneficios
que ello conlleva para los(as)as trabajadores(as) y sus comunidades.

La situación política del país caribeño es también esperanzadora para los(as) trabajadores(as).
El presidente Luis Abinader, elegido en 2020, ha hecho algunos compromisos firmes para
mejorar las condiciones de los(as) trabajadores(as), incluido el anuncio de un aumento salarial
minimo del 24 % en 2021 y el reconocimiento público de la importancia de la libertad sindical y
la negociación colectiva en el día internacional del trabajador del año pasado.

Y para los(as) trabajadores(as) del sector bananero en especial, la afiliación reciente de
SIUTRAPBAM a la Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Sindicatos Bananeros y
Agroindustriales (COLSIBA), les hace entrar en el redil de una organización que lleva casi 30
años trabajando por los derechos laborales en la industria bananera y todos los beneficios
que ello conlleva. La ventaja para las trabajadoras es la elección de la defensora de los derechos de las mujeres colombiana y sindicalista experimentada Adela Torres como Coordinadora de COLSIBA durante los próximos dos años. No cabe duda de que su compromiso con la equidad de género en la industria bananera garantizará que el género ocupe un lugar central en el trabajo de la coordinadora sindical durante los próximos dos años.

^{Evelin Cabrera y Joseline Meme, miembros del grupo central del programa de formación, se reúnen con Crustino Torres de SIUTRAPBAM.}

Holly Woodward-Davey
Banana Link
Oficial de proyectos

Fotos: SIUTRAPBAM

The post El Proyecto de Formación en Liderazgo y Empoderamiento de las Mujeres en la República Dominicana appeared first on Banana Link.

Our aim was for these examples of good practice to inform further work by companies, NGOs and Unions on improving the rights of women workers and producers.

The second key driver of progress towards gender equity was ‘Education’.   ‘Gender Equity across Supply Chains– a comparative analysis’ captures a wide variety of case studies where education plays an essential role in driving positive change. Case studies also revealed the need for a common understanding that ‘change takes time’ and initiatives must involve ‘women and men working together’.  

An essential first step on the road to gender equity

Gender inequity in supply chains takes root long before a woman enters the workforce. It is widely recognised that girls who receive an education are less likely to marry young and more likely to lead healthy, productive lives. They earn higher incomes, participate in the decisions that most affect them, and build better futures for themselves and their families. Unfortunately, according to UNICEF only ‘49% of countries have achieved gender parity in primary education. At the secondary level, the gap widens: 42% of countries have achieved gender parity in lower secondary education, and 24% in upper secondary education’.

By supporting ‘education for all’, especially for girls, businesses, trade unions and NGOs can help to ensure that if or when women decide to enter the labour market, they are not automatically disadvantaged due to a lack of education. Our case study, ‘Women’s Employment and Economic Empowerment on Fairtrade Flower Farms in East Africa’ explores the use of the Fairtrade Premium to support education, in which 33% of the Premium was spent on education projects for workers, their families and the wider community.   

Of course, even with education women still need access to the labour market. Ensuring that there are good opportunities for women, flexible working that accommodates the care duties that typically fall to them, fair wages, proper contracts and good positions at all levels within a workplace, are all essential to driving equality. Beliefs that “certain jobs are for women” or that “women don’t make good leaders” still prevail. Training and education for hiring managers to tackle this gender bias and concrete commitments to providing equal opportunities are critical steps for employers to take.

In the workplace

Once in the door, women need to have a safe and secure working environment as well as opportunities for progression. Companies need to develop robust and sensitive policies and procedures appropriate for grievances, cases of sexual harassment and whistle blowing. The case studies ‘The Panama Project and Implementation of the COLSIBA/Chiquita/IUF Sexual Harassment Clause’and ‘Tackling sexual harassment on Kenyan Flower Farms’offer good examples.

Beyond policies and procedures, companies need an overarching gender strategy. ‘Compagnie Fruitière group gender strategy’ and the ‘James Finlays Kenya Gender Equality and Diversity Policy’ demonstrate how this can streamline workplace education to progress gender equity.  Both detail programmes for staff to undergo continual professional and technical development, which aim to challenge the confines of gendered job roles by training women for promotion and advancement, and training managers and supervisors on what ‘good management’ looks like and how it is applied.

In Tesco’s case study, ‘Leadership & Mentorship Programme in South African fruit industry’, the retailer worked with the Fresh Produce Exporters Forum on leadership skills development for women employees. Here, they focused on improving how junior and senior management relate to each other. As a result, conflict incidences in 2014/15 decreased by 40%. As Tesco’s remarked:

“The key difference about this programme is the sole focus on ‘soft’ skills and the development of personal and interpersonal skills and strengths. The majority of training programmes do not do this and rather focus on business and technical issues. This programme includes looking at power dynamics and the abuse of power (including from a gender perspective). Soft skills can – as this programme demonstrates – have a significant impact”.

The trainee development programme in Finlays’ ‘Artisan Apprenticeship Programme’ case study had similar success. Here 20 women working on Kenyan tea estates were given the opportunity to receive college-level training for ‘artisan’ jobs – plumbing, electrical engineering and carpentry – typically performed by men. After qualifying, Finlays have deployed all 20 women throughout their main tea estates. Here they serve as excellent role models for both the girls in nearby schools and to other women in the company and wider community.

Workers’ rights education

In ‘Developing Strategies for Change for Women Workers in African Horticulture’, Women Working Worldwide initiated a workers’ rights education programme which covered the history of the horticulture industry, health and safety, environmental impacts, how unions can help workers, and combatting sexual harassment. The programme was successful in informing 20,000 workers of their rights as women, and as workers, as well as emphasising the need to organise.

Once again, education on how to build good relationships was key to improving conditions. The vital role NGOs and unions play in creating external pressure and supporting workers organising and in negotiations, was also recognised. By the end of the programme 35% more women were represented in unions.

Working together

It is essential that gender equality education programmes create ‘safe spaces’ for women to share and discuss the specific challenges they face, whilst also enabling men and women to work together.

Gender Action Learning Systems (GALS), developed by Linda Mayoux, has done just that. Since their collaboration with Oxfam Novib Women’s Empowerment Mainstreaming and Networking (WEMAN) Programme in 2009, GALS has been used across 26 countries and over 50 different projects.

GALS is not a single methodology or set of tools. It is a change philosophy based on the underlying principles of social and gender justice, inclusion and mutual respect. Companies wishing to employ this change philosophy would be well advised to engage a trained GALS practitioner and/or use the Practical Guide developed as part of the 2014  Oxfam Novib programme.

Education is much more than access to formal schooling. Education and awareness programmes should be transformative and question the existing social and gender ‘norms’ that underpin and perpetuate global inequalities. Only by challenging these and providing individuals with the tools and knowledge to do so themselves, can gender equity be realised.

All of the case studies featured in this blog can be found here. 

Photo: Women Working Worldwide

The post Blog: Gender Equity in Supply Chains – Education appeared first on Banana Link.

Our aim was for these examples of good practice to inform further work by companies, NGOs and Unions on improving the rights of women workers and producers.

The second key driver of progress towards gender equity across supply chains we identified as part of ‘Gender Equity across Supply Chains – a comparative analysis’ was ‘Representation’.

Particularly, the following elements:

• The role of unions and women’s involvement in unions,
• Grievance mechanisms which are trusted by workers and show results,
• Women’s voices being heard and responded to.

Why is representation important?

According to research carried out in 2020, Latin American women spend at least eight hours per day working at the banana farm, but in the same 24 hours, they spend five hours and 50 minutes extra on domestic work at home – making their working day last at least 13 hours and 50 minutes¹.

What could women achieve if the domestic workload was shared equally between women and men? When women are shoulder the burden of domestic labour – caring for children or relatives, cleaning, cooking and shopping, – they are left time-poor, while the majority of their male colleagues are not. This puts women workers at an unfair disadvantage and has a knock-on effect in the workplace and beyond. It affects how society is run and the everyday experiences we all have.

How many more women could reach positions of leadership at banana farms, for example, if the domestic workload was shared equally between men and women? How would it affect issues like the gender pay gap, hiring biases and workplace safety if women were in the room when important decisions were being made?

How many more women could join and become leaders at their local trade union, if men contributed equally to domestic and caring responsibilities? How would this affect worker representation and collective bargaining?

The fact that women tend to shoulder the burden of domestic work with very limited support from male partners, and often find that childcare is either unavailable or unaffordable, continues to pose a barrier to them excelling in their employment. Simply because they cannot be in two places at once. This keeps women in low paid jobs – where there are fewer expectations and demands on their time – and temporary contracts, and in situations of financial precariousness. Women’s domestic labour – unpaid and largely invisible – is keeping a whole generation of women from making their mark in public life.

The lack of female representation at workplaces and trade unions feeds established social norms that place a higher value on men than women. Role models are important for women’s self-esteem, but also to ensure that women’s specific needs and viewpoints are considered when decisions are being made.

While the banana industry hires significantly more men than women (over 80% of the workforce worldwide are men), women who do find employment on banana farms often find workplaces timetables and management structures that fail to take the needs and reality of women workers’ lives into account. These workplaces have often been designed with male workers in mind. This can mean there is a lack of sanitary provision, or that women are expected to share changing rooms with men – putting them at risk of sexual harassment and abuse. It can mean that the only personal protective equipment (PPE) offered is designed for men. It usually means that there are no childcare facilities for parents of young children, nor flexibility for workers who need to collect children from school.

How can the industry ‘do better’?

The Panama Project and Implementation of the COLSIBA/Chiquita/IUF Sexual Harassment Clause Case Study was written in 2019. A decade after the 2001 international framework agreement with Chiquita, Coordinating Body of Latin American Banana and Agro-industrial Unions (COLSIBA), and International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tourism, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) was signed, a new Women’s Committee was established to constructively and proactively address priority areas for women workers and their union representatives. The Women’s Committee came about in part because it had been observed that women’s participation in the framework’s Review Committee had not been strong. Importantly, two women had recently taken up key leadership roles: Iris Mungia as Coordinator at COLSIBA, and Sue Longley as General Secretary of the IUF.

With strong female leadership in both unions, meaningful work to tackle some of the most endemic issues for women workers in this industry was undertaken. The strategic objectives of the Women’s Committee included improving the conditions of women workers through incorporating gender clauses to collective bargaining agreements and to the 2011 framework agreement itself, and supporting and increasing employment opportunities for women.

^{A group photo of the Women’s Committee.}

Two years after the Women’s Committee was established, the first major result came to fruition: in 2013, an annex to the framework agreement was signed on the crucial issue of sexual harassment, with the aim of strengthening and promoting a safe and inclusive working environment for women, free of sexual harassment and discrimination by male colleagues.

In 2015, a pilot project was established to deal with the issue of low levels of women’s inclusion in the workforce. Chiquita’s own research had shown that Panama had one of the most male dominated plantation systems within their ownership – with 92.3% of their Panamanian employees being men.

These two outcomes highlight just how important women’s representation is. With just two women in key leadership positions at IUF and COLSIBA, action was taken that would influence and improve the working conditions of countless other women and offer them an example of women’s empowerment.

Key learning from the project on the part of COLSIBA:

“It is essential to understand local and cultural context before developing and implementing any initiative. It is almost imperative for women not only to be at the decision-making table but to also have the skills and confidence to voice their needs and represent others. A clear learning from this project is that women employed on temporary contracts are instantly vulnerable to discrimination and sexual harassment and with responsibility for the home predominantly falling to women, it is essential to create stable jobs which allow for childcare responsibilities to be met. All job roles should be available to women, not only “women’s jobs.” Furthermore, it is of the utmost importance to involve and empower women employees and educate them on gender issues so that in the future they can lead and develop union and labour strategy.”

[1] The research cited was carried out for the adaptation of the BOHESI Gender Guidelines for the Latin American context, which is a forthcoming occupational health and safety manual to complement the existing BOHESI Gender Guidelines for Ghana. The BOHESI Gender Guidelines for Latin America is expected to be published by the end of 2021.

Photos: Banana Link

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Our aim was for these examples of good practice to inform further work by companies, NGOs and Unions on improving the rights of women workers and producers.

By Caroline Downey, Executive Director, Women Working Worldwide 

Major growers and exporters of flowers to the UK and other international markets, VP Group and Flamingo, have established a wide range of gender projects in their farms throughout Naivasha. During our visit we visited external and internal projects, interviewed managers and engaged with workers who had benefitted from these projects. Many of the projects were replicated across farms; we have chosen a few to showcase good practice.

Information

Information on everything from company vision to maternity rights and policies were clearly displayed on notice boards in all the farms, especially where workers congregate, such as canteens and locker rooms. Workers were able to inform themselves about their rights without having to engage with management and there were publicly available lists of union representatives and committee members should workers need to escalate an issue.

Information was also provided on benefits that could improve workers lives, such as subsidised ‘jiko’s’, wood burning stoves. The stoves not only reduce the amount of fuel required for cooking but also create a cleaner cooking environment, resulting in a reduction in the time women and girls spend collecting wood, a reduction in cost (if the wood/charcoal is purchased) and a reduction in air pollution.

Top tip five: Ensure that all policies and useful information are shared with workers and displayed in visible and accessible locations. Where possible information should be available in local languages, as well as English.

Empowerment

Examples of how the companies supported both women and men to progress and develop their skills were evident across all farms. Of particular note was the story of Hellen, who had worked her way up from a general worker to become a secretary in human resources. She had also undergone the ‘Leadership for Hope’ training, delivered by Emerging Leaders, which focused on building leadership skills and self-esteem.

Hellen learnt about business and financial planning, which enabled her to set up a successful business with her husband, a tailor, making and selling bags in the local market. The training also boosted her confidence and supporting her progress within the company. Hellen is able to contribute more both in her role at the company and as a member of the community, strengthening her financial security and providing a successful role model for other women, both in and outside of work.

^{Hellen stands outside with one of her bags.}

Top tip six: Invest in leadership and financial planning for your workers, especially women, and the positive benefits will be felt individually, in the family and in the workplace.

Fairtrade

Several of the farms we visited were excellent examples of how Fairtrade benefits both workers and the local community. The farm is paid a premium on its Fairtrade goods, and the members of the worker-led Fairtrade Premium Committee, elected by the workers, then decide where this money will be spent in the local community.

^{A sign for Hell’s Gate Aforestation Programme}

Examples we were shown included: a posho mill set up to produce flour to sell at a subsidised price to workers; an afforestation programme at Hell’s Gate Nature Reserve; various primary schools supported with classrooms and resources, including food; and support for local safe houses for orphaned or vulnerable children.

^{A sign for Naivasha Safe House}

Perhaps the most impactful of these was the pooling of a number of Fairtrade Premiums from various farms to co-fund the Naivasha Maternity Unit, which has saved the lives of thousands of mothers and babies.

^{The Naivasha Maternity Unity building.}

Top tip seven: Ensure all suppliers have required certifications for fairer trade and where possible purchase and support Fairtrade certified farms and goods.

Food and nutrition

We know that ensuring there is enough food on the table for you and your family is difficult when jobs are poorly paid or insecure. One of the ways farms in Naivasha were trying to support workers was to provide a nutritional lunch, which was either free or heavily subsidised. Vegetables used for staff lunches were sourced from local farms or grown by the flower farms in nutritional gardens on site. These nutritional gardens were also able to provide opportunities for agricultural training in schools and colleges, and sell surplus produce and tree saplings to the local community.

^{A goat sits in the stable of a Fairtrade nutritional garden.}

Fairtrade farm showed us around their nutritional garden, which not only had examples of drought tolerant species, beehives, compost heaps, rainwater harvesting and different types of irrigation, but also incorporated livestock and provided members of the community with livestock welfare training too.

^{An example of a Fairtrade nutritional garden.}

Top tip eight: Address basic needs such as food. Encourage food security for all staff to grow resilience and support communities to withstand shocks.

Innovation

Another Naivasha farm has adopted the use of donkeys to transport various goods around the farm. They found that this increased job opportunities, particularly for women, as donkey handlers and cart drivers, with a number of added benefits. The first donkeys were rescues who then reproduced. As this continued the farm ended up with so many donkeys, they were able to offer them to the local community.

Those families awarded donkeys were given training on donkey care and welfare. Once trained the donkeys could be relied upon to transport goods and carry water and firewood throughout the villages.

^{Women driver transports goods using a donkey-drawn cart.}

By innovating a single project, the farm was able to facilitate increased job opportunities for women, grow the communities knowledge on animal care, reduce the use of motorised vehicles on the farm and its overall carbon footprint, and give support to local communities – especially women and girls – who no longer had to collect water and firewood by foot.

Top tip nine: Be creative and innovative. Thinking outside the box can have wide ranging and beneficial impacts for company, workers and the wider community.

Back in the UK we began to ‘knit’ some of the good practice ideas we had come across into our gender work, whilst gathering other case studies in bananas, tea and flowers. We set up a cross functional working group to shape these stories, ‘top tips’ and other learned experiences into a framework of key drivers of change that companies, NGOs and trade unions, could use to start or enhance their gender journeys.

Top tip ten: Reviewing your operations and supply chains with a gender lens can seem an overwhelming and complex challenge. Make it easier by breaking it down into accessible steps using our framework.

In the next blogs we will share the original drivers framework and dive even deeper into some of the ways these projects, and other programmes in agriculture and garments, are helping to make equality a reality.

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Our aim was for these examples of good practice to inform further work by companies, NGOs and Unions on improving the rights of women workers and producers.

By Caroline Downey, Executive Director, Women Working Worldwide 

It was late 2017 and I had been in post as Executive Director of Women Working Worldwide (WWW) for about a year. I was becoming increasingly frustrated at the slowness of real change and constant repetition of the same gender issues – lack of voice, inadequate policies, poor wages and sexual harassment in the workplace – that continued to rear their ugly heads time and time again. Looking back through WWW’s 30 year his(her)story it felt like I could copy whole sections of reports from the 1980’s straight into present day content and no one would notice any difference.

Origin story

At an ETI event, I met Jacqui Mackay, the National Coordinator of Banana Link. We agreed that one of the barriers to equality (and we know there are many!) was a lack of collaboration and shared learning on gender and gender equity. Perhaps one way to galvanise change would be to gather examples of what had worked well across three agricultural sectors where our organisations had experience and knowledge: flowers, tea and bananas.

With funding from ETI, we embarked upon comprehensive desk-based research on gender in these sectors, gathering evidence to form a database of case studies. To accompany this, we partnered with James Finlay, Flamingo, VP Group and MM Flowers to organise a trip to Kenya where we could evaluate their gender initiatives and interview managers and workers.

Kericho

In July 2018 we set off to Kenya. First stop was Kericho to work with Finlays, who at that time had extensive tea estates and much smaller flower farms (now sold). Finlay were a trailblazers. They had appointed the first ‘Gender Empowerment Manager’ Jacqui or I had ever come across. Janet Ruto was responsible for ensuring that gender was embedded throughout the company. For example, she had introduced a gender policy, specialist training for woman workers and support for women in leadership roles. It was clear that opportunities for women were improving, and Janet was achieving results.

Top tip one: As a company take gender seriously and allocate dedicated resources to ensure action is enabled at all levels.

Our research work in Kericho was exceptionally varied investigating a wide range of programmes. These included:

Education

Twenty women workers were offered the opportunity to attend technical college to train in ‘artisan’ jobs traditionally held by men, such as plumbing and electrical or mechanical engineering. After training, all the women were employed by the company in their artisan roles, reporting growth in self-esteem, increased wages and improved job opportunities.

In-house educational support was also provided for three women to train in other traditionally male jobs. These included two roles as ‘Ecolog’ drivers – responsible for operating the huge machines used for harvesting trees from the forestry estates into logs – and the ‘Pezzolato’ machine operator – who operates the machine that turns these logs into timber. All of these demonstrate to both the workforce and the wider community that with the right training and support women can be successful in any job.

Top tip two: Challenge gendered job roles and offer training and support so that opportunities can be opened up for women workers.

^{A woman ‘pezzolato’ machine operator operates the machine that turns these logs into timber.
Newly trained ‘pezzolato’ machine operator turns logs into timber (Photo credit: WWW).}

Leadership

Finlay, like many other companies, now have gender targets to ensure 30% of manager roles are held by women. As well as establishing positive recruitment practices and dedicated training, Finlay also set up a peer-to-peer support network for women managers. Managers could communicate via Whatsapp and attend regular meetings to come together to share challenges and opportunities, and support each other in their roles. They also established a mentoring system where more experienced managers could support and mentor younger or newer managers. The company also allocated dedicated time within working hours for these support groups to meet.

Top tip three: Facilitate a supportive network for women managers to cultivate a culture of shared learning and informed leadership.

Community

Many gender programmes extended beyond business operations and provided support out in the local community. One example of this was an income generating activity for women and men who have HIV. This was supported by Finlay’s community welfare programme and saw waste plastics crocheted into baskets and plant pots and sold in the local community. Many people who have HIV are unable to access work. This programme provided a pathway to much-needed income.

Top tip four: Go beyond your company, factory or farm gate to foster lasting change by supporting the wider community.

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The project will see a core group of 10 women workers and small farmers – from across the three main banana exporting provinces of the country – receive intensive leadership and empowerment training across a broad range of topics encompassing non- violence and harassment, Dominican labour law, certification policy and international standards, personal finances and digital literacy and communication skills. Once this first phase is completed, the training will be rolled out to a much larger group of women on Dominican farms and plantations using a ‘training the trainers’ methodology.

The initiative, with the financial support of Tesco and Fyffes, is designed to include a diverse group of women who represent the reality of Dominican banana production. This includes women owners of small banana farms and plantation workers from across the country, women of both Dominican and Haitian origin, women of different ages and workers from a range of different plantations across the nation.

The training is led by Dominican development expert and women’s rights advocate, Dra. Eliza Sanchez, in collaboration with Banana Link’s partners in the country: SIUTRAPBAM – the banana workers union of Montecristi, development organisation Fundación Étnica Integral (FEI) and migrant focused NGO the Cultural Research and Support Centre (CIAC).

^{The launch was attended by the core group of women participating in the leadership and empowerment training initiative. Local partners, Dominican banana business leaders and government representatives addressed the group}

Why do women in the Dominican banana sector need empowering?

In line with global trends, the proportion of women employed in the Dominican banana sector is very low, and women are generally limited to employment in pack-houses or in service-related tasks on farms.
Research conducted by Banana Link in 2015 found that the proportion of women employed in the banana industry is around 12% for plantation workers, and that the proportion of small banana farms owned by women is about the same. The same study found that while all the female farm heads interviewed were members of farmers’ associations, only 4 out of 101 held leadership positions, indicating a broader pattern of absence of women in leadership positions in producer organisations.

Violence against women remains a major problem in the Dominican Republic, where in 2018, 68.8% of women aged 15 years and older were found to have experienced some form of violence in their lifetime, and the prevalence of violence against women was even higher in rural areas. Recent reports indicate that violence and harassment are present in 21 percent of Dominican workplaces.

As in other parts of the world, banana-producing areas in the Dominican Republic offer very few alternative sources of employment. With a high prevalence of women-headed households relying on female income to cover living costs, there is a need to ensure that women in banana-producing regions are not excluded from the main source of employment available to them. It is essential that rural women have decent and accessible employment

An optimistic future for Dominican banana workers

The initiative is designed to generate lessons on strategies and practices that can be deployed over the long term to empower rural women in banana exporting areas and increase their participation in the leadership of workers’ and producers’ organisations. The materials and methodologies developed will serve as a basis for future work to consolidate the role of women in creating decent work and maturing social dialogue in the industry.

It comes at an optimistic time for the Dominican banana industry. The long-standing problems over the non-regularisation of Haitian workers is being tackled by a recently formed national Roundtable: A coalition of Fairtrade, trade unions, banana producers and civil society groups has devised a ‘roadmap’ which will enable migrant workers in Fairtrade certified organisations to obtain legal status and access the same rights enjoyed by their Dominican colleagues. Tackling this issue and ensuring compliance with Fairtrade standards is crucial, considering that 60-70% of Dominican bananas are certified Fairtrade, with all the benefits this brings for workers and their communities.

The political situation of the Caribbean nation is also looking hopeful for workers. President Luis Abinader, elected in 2020, has made some firm commitments to improving the conditions of working people – including the announcement of an average salary rise of 24% in 2021 and public recognition of the importance of trade union freedom and collective bargaining on Labour Day last year.

And for banana workers in particular, the recent affiliation of SIUTRAPBAM to the Latin American Coordinating Body of Banana and Agro-industrial Unions, COLSIBA, brings them into the fold of an organisation that has worked for almost 30 years on labour rights in the banana industry, and all the benefits that this brings. The icing on the cake for women workers is the recent election of Colombian women’s rights advocate and experienced trade unionist Adela Torres as COLSIBA Coordinator for the next two years. There is no doubt that her commitment to gender equity in the banana industry will ensure gender takes a central role in the work of the union coordinating body over the next two years.

^{Evelin Cabrera and Joseline Meme, members of the training programme’s core group, meet with Crusito Torres of SIUTRAPBAM}

Holly Woodward-Davey
Banana Link
Project Officer

Photos: SIUTRAPBAM

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