An incisive report into the alleged abuse of human rights by banana giant Dole has accused the company of denying workers “basic” rights and creating unfair working conditions, despite some progress.
The new report, a review of 2006’s Dole: Behind the Smoke-screen, was released by a collaboration of groups and exposes some of the “broken promises” and alleged truth behind the company’s “rhetoric”.
The report covers Dole’s work in Ecuador, Costa Rica and Peru, as well as Guatemala, where it accuses Dole of refusing to meet unions and implores it to “behave responsibly to help put an end to the spiralling violence and impunity, particularly present in the banana sector”.
The document has been compiled by a number of organisations including Banafair, Banana Link, Colsiba and Peuples Solidaires in association with ActionAid.
It does, however, acknowledge some progress from the international firm including “fragile” steps forward with workers in Ecuador, improved relations in Peru and “steps taken on various levels as a result of meetings and correspondence” between Dole and the authors of the report.
Despite this, the study alleges that “hundreds of thousands of workers who produce the fruits that we consume on a daily basis live in shocking conditions; their rights, their dignity and their health are ignored”.
It also expressed concern over the work of Compagnie Fruitière, in which Dole has a 40 per cent stake, in Cameroon where it claims witnesses have raised concerns over the “use of pesticides harmful to workers and neighbouring populations, workers’ salaries, confiscations of property from local inhabitants [and] tax fraud.
It claims that Dole’s willingness to rely on independent producers for fruit “has allowed the company to wash its hands of the direct social responsibility for workers on the plantations” and said “being ‘open to dialogue’ is not enough”.
But Dole denied the allegations, fiercely pointing to the progress it has made in the three years since the initial report.
Sylvain Cuperlier, vice-president, director of worldwide corporate social responsibility at Dole, told FPJ: “One of the criticisms expressed in 2006 was that there was a lack of dialogue between Dole and the unions in some of the countries in which we operate. It is my understanding that the new report recognises that Dole has engaged in a dialogue with all trade union organisations. In some countries, such as Peru, this dialogue has led to successful negotiations. In some other countries, like in Costa Rica, this dialogue has not always contributed to having both parties agree on what is a reasonable way to move forward.
“All allegations posted in the 2006 report, when referring to Dole farms or farms producing for Dole have been discussed with our local stakeholders on the ground in order to identify the real problems and to implement corrective actions, if necessary.
“The report itself shows there have been some concrete achievements. Now, the campaigning organisations will continue to ask Dole and the industry to do more.”
Alistair Smith, international co-ordinator of Banana Link, told FPJ the main problem is that, while the company has engaged in dialogue, it has not yet translated this into practical improvements for workers on the ground in most cases.
He said: “In some countries like Honduras, Dole has reasonably good relationships with trade unions and engages in collective bargaining. In most others though, there is still considerable resistance, but the company needs to realise that its fears are unfounded. In Guatemala, the US market’s biggest single source, the company has still to meet promises it made to unions three years ago - this is unacceptable. The company would be in a stronger position to argue for fair prices from its customers if it had real working relationships with an organised workforce that understands the pressures of working in a highly competitive product chains.”
“We are confident that the progressive voices within the company will soon realise that genuine engagement is of both short-term and long-term benefit. We believe that the framework of the new World Banana Forum - being set up in December - will help this happen sooner rather than later.”
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