Banana Workers Strike
"Bonita" Bananas

BANANA WORKERS FIRED IN ECUADOR!
Days after strike for a union, 120 workers fired!
US/LEAP Action Alert 3-18-02; www.usleap.org

One hundred and twenty banana workers have been fired by Ecuador's largest
banana exporter, the Noboa Company, just after participating in a daylong
work stoppage on February 25th to call for respect for basic labor rights
and the recognition of a union. 300 workers who have been working on these
plantations have not been called back to work. The management claims that
there are no shipments to process and that the workers are not needed.

In addition, since the work stoppage, a police force has been present on the
plantation. Reports indicate that neither the Labor Minister nor the
Interior Minister ordered the placement of police on the plantations.

In response to this anti-union intimidation, 300 banana workers marched in
protest in nearby Guayquil on March 12th.

This new anti-union activity places a renewed responsibility on the Noboa
company and especially on the owner of the company, Alvaro Noboa Ponton -
who is expected to run for president of Ecuador in the next election - to
demonstrate his respect of Ecuadorian law and internationally recognized
worker rights. (Not to mention not alienate the over 220,000 banana workers
in Ecuador!) The Noboa Company is the fourth biggest banana company in the
world (after Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte) and owns the Bonita brand.

The union has submitted to the Labor Minister an application for legal
registration of the General Union of Plantation Workers of Haciendas
Yanayacu 1 & 2, Rey Rancho 1 & 2, La Nueva, Zapotal, & La Teresa. Assuming
the Labor Minister approves the registration of the new union, this will be
the first independent banana workers' union since the 1970s.

The Labor Minister has also reportedly sent official inspectors to the
banana plantations to report on any worker rights violations and has
responded to the banana workers' requests thus far.

Banana Workers Strike Against Race to the Bottom

More than 1400 workers at seven plantations producing for the Noboa Company
in Ecuador went on strike on February 25th to call for their basic labor
rights including overtime pay, health care benefits and centers, a decent
salary, and the right to a union. The fight of the Ecuadorian banana
workers is being watched carefully by banana unions throughout Latin
America, whose wages and benefits are threatened by the dominance of
non-union, low-wage Ecuadorian banana exports.

Take Action to Support Banana Workers!

SUGGESTED ACTIONS:

1) Contact the Noboa company. Write the owner of the Noboa Company, Alvaro
Noboa Ponton. Urge Noboa to (a) reinstate the fired workers, (b) comply with
Ecuadorian law concerning worker rights, (c) recognize the union, and (d)
negotiate the union's demands in good faith.

~ Fax a letter to Noboa in Ecuador at 011-593-42-444-093. Or you can send an
email or letter to US/LEAP and they will forward the letter to the company.
Fax: 773-262-6502; Email: usleapja@mindspring.com

2) Grassroots Research: The new emphasis on Noboa's responsibility to the
banana workers fighting for a union means that the grassroots research is
more crucial! Noboa's main fruit brand is Bonita. Next time you see BONITA
bananas sold in your local stores, fill out the form below and return it to
US/LEAP or go to http:\\www.usleap.org/Bonitaform.html to submit an online
form.

*********************************************
I found Bonita brand!

Name of store:

City and state of store's address:

Date of sighting:

Did you find Bonita brand bananas?:

Did you find other Bonita brand produce at this store? (list type):

Did you have a choice in banana brands?
If yes, which other brand(s) was(were) offered?

My name:

You can contact me with questions at:

***********************************************
Please return this form to US/LEAP making attention to "Banana Research".
Address: P.O. Box 268-290, Chicago, IL 60626. Tel: 773-262-6502; Fax:
773-262-6602; Email: usleapja@mindspring.com .

3) Contact the Ecuadorian government. Thank the Labor Minister for
responding to the banana workers' requests thus far. Ask the Labor Minister
to continue to act to protect the basic rights of the workers at the General
Union of Plantation Workers of Haciendas Yanayacu 1 & 2, Rey Rancho 1 & 2,
La Nueva, Zapotal, & La Teresa. Also ask that the Labor Minister advocate
for good faith negotiations with the company.

~ Contact Ab. Martin Insua Chag, Minister of Labor & Human Resources in
Ecuador. Fax: 011-593-2-256-3469 or 011-593-2-250-3122; E-mail to
<mintrab@accessinter.net>.

~ Contact the Ecuadorian Ambassador to the U.S., Ivonne A-Baki. The
Embassy of Ecuador, 2535 15th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20009. Tel: (202)
234-7200; Fax 202-265-6385; E-Mail: embassy@ecuador.org.

Background Info

Crisis in the Banana Industry Hits Workers Hardest

The crisis in the banana industry, caused by a number of factors including
overproduction, has resulted in mass layoffs as production concentrates on
low-wage, non-union Ecuador at the expense of countries where workers are
unionized and have higher wages and benefits.

Banana Trade Wars Come to an End

Many may remember the beginnings of a campaign to fight the "first come,
first served" (FCFS) proposal to settle the long-standing suit in the World
Trade Organization protesting the European Union's preferential import
quotas of bananas from countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and Pacific
region. FCFS would have escalated the "race to the bottom" in the banana
industry by privileging the companies and countries that have the lowest
production costs and, subsequently, little care for worker rights or living
standards (primarily Ecuador and those companies with the largest stake in
the banana industry there, Dole and Noboa).

Fortunately, FCFS was taken off the table on April 11, 2001 as the EU
settled the "banana trade wars" with an agreement to grant banana import
quotas per company (instead of per country as was previously done) based on
trading in the mid-90's. The new agreement does not directly protect higher
wage, more unionized Central American countries and Colombia from Ecuador,
but national producers who received import licenses are not likely to
abandon their local investments to switch to Ecuador. Likewise, Chiquita is
not as free to rush immediately to Ecuador since it owns a high percentage
of its plantations in Central America and is much more unionized than Dole,
Del Monte, or Noboa.

Ecuador's Role in the Crisis

The crisis in the banana industry is characterized by the "race to the
bottom" with Ecuador leading the way as the largest banana exporter in the
world. Noboa, the largest banana exporter in Ecuador, is the fourth largest
banana company in the world, following the three U.S. giants, Dole,
Chiquita, and Del Monte.

While Ecuador may have an advantage in banana production in terms of
numbers, the working conditions, wages, benefits, and freedoms for the right
to organize on Ecuadorian banana plantations are some of the worst in the
region. Not surprisingly, unlike most of its competitors in the region,
Ecuador's banana industry is almost completely un-unionized.

In a study commissioned by US/LEAP in 2000, Ecuadorian workers reported
earning an average of US$56 per month. This compares to an average monthly
wage of over $500 in Panama, $200 to $300 in Colombia, $200 in Costa Rica,
$150 to $200 in Honduras, and $120 to $150 on Guatemala's Atlantic Coast.
Subsequent minimum wage increases in Ecuador have only partially narrowed
the gap.

Ecuadorian banana worker also have few if any benefits usually provided on
most plantations in the region including housing, potable water supply,
education for children, and health benefits. Because banana plantations are
often not near any cities or towns, these benefits are essential to a decent
life for banana workers.

Over the last few years, the low standards in Ecuador have enticed
multinational corporations to move production from countries with higher
labor costs and respect for worker rights, a trend that only furthers the
depression of worker rights standards in the region. For example, Dole
announced in November 1999 that it would layoff 9,000 workers and suspend
its operations in Nicaragua (where it had been the exclusive buyer from
independent producers) and Venezuela. Dole now gets about 30% of its bananas
from Ecuador. Del Monte fired virtually its entire workforce in Costa Rica
in mid-1999 and then rehired most of the workers, but with substantial pay
cuts and loss of benefits. Chiquita began planting the less-labor intensive
African Palm on some of its Honduran plantations and then in June 2000
announced it would not rehabilitate other plantations destroyed by Hurricane
Mitch, resulting in job loss.

Fighting the Race to the Bottom: Bananas and Beyond

A loss of banana unions would have an adverse effect on the labor movement
in Central America. The hard won and long-standing unions in the banana
industry have served as the backbone to the labor movement in many of the
countries in Central America. The banana industry is one of the most highly
unionized industries in the private sector. The deterioration of that
backbone is a threat to working and living standards throughout the region.

The best way to protect the standards of union plantations in Central
America and Colombia is to raise the standards of all the plantations in the
region, especially in Ecuador. The struggle to form a union on eight of the
Noboa plantations is the beginning of the fight to do just that. Support
worker rights and a decent life for all in Central America, Ecuador, and
Colombia; support the General Union of Plantation Workers of Haciendas
Yanayacu 1 & 2, Rey Rancho 1 & 2, La Nueva, Zapotal, & La Teresa!