With 115 plantations and sales in over 60 countries, Chiquita is world leader in the banana market, ex aequo with its main rival Dole. Under mounting pressure from consumers, Chiquita now boasts of production that meets social and environmental criteria. "A "clean" banana, grown with no pesticides, cared for and picked by workers whose rights are fully respected", this is what Chiquita promises us for the future. [1] On its website the multinational claims that its plantations are run on a socially responsible basis, with respect for both its workers and the environment. [2] Since 2005 Chiquita bananas have been certified by the Rainforest Alliance environmental standard. The company furthermore boasts the SA8000 social standard which requires compliance with basic ILO labour standards [3]. Yet on the Coyol plantation [4] in Costa Rica, the Compañia Bananera Atlántica Limitada (COBAL), a Chiquita subsidiary, violates its workers’ basic rights and endangers their health, in full impunity.

At 5 a.m. on 16 March 2007, Alexander Reyes Zuñiga, Marco Gonzáles Borges and Jaime Blanco Juárez started their day’s work on the Coyal banana plantation, owned by the company COBAL, a Chiquita subsidiary. They had been cutting and gathering fruit for about an hour, in the section of the plantation to which they had been assigned by their supervisor, when they noticed that another team in the same section was busy spraying the fruit manually with a nematicide. This pesticide, used against certain parasites which cause the most damage on banana plantations, is one of the most toxic for humans.
Having received strict instructions as to the number of bunches of bananas that had to be harvested, the three men decided to carry on working. A few minutes later Alexander Zuñiga and Jaime Juáres suddenly became nauseous and dizzy. J. Juáres was taken to a clinic where he remained under observation for several hours, on a drip. His colleague reported the incident to his superiors who told him to take milk with sweetened water and sent him home without any further care. The next day Alexander Zuñiga told his supervisor that he was still suffering from the same symptoms of poisoning. However, since the supervisor did "not have enough workers" available, he ordered him to resume his work.
Angry about not having been informed of the fumigation that was supposed to take place in the same area in which they were working, and of thus being exposed to nematocide poisoning, two of the workers concerned reported the incident and accused their supervisors of being responsible. Not only was their complaint not taken into consideration, the two men were summoned by the company management for a disciplinary procedure that ended in their dismissal for misconduct! They were accused of entering the area that was to be fumigated, despite specific orders prohibiting them from doing so.

Serious irregularities in the procedure

Despite overwhelming evidence, and without even bothering to conduct a medical examination on the workers concerned, Chiquita denied everything: the poisoning of the COBAL workers and the irregularity of the procedure. Yet the two workers accused of misconduct had no opportunity to defend themselves and were not even informed of the content of the testimonies that supposedly justified their dismissal. Moreover, whereas the procedure specified by Costa Rican labour regulations provides for three warnings before dismissal for disciplinary reasons, Alexander Zuñiga and Marco Borges were sacked without any warning.

Intimidation of workers

The firm’s attitude has been condemned by the SITAGAH, the industrial union of agricultural workers of Heredia [5] and by COSIBA-CR, the committee of banana trade unions [6]. These two union organizations accuse the firm of using intimidation to dissuade workers from denouncing the fact that their rights were flouted. More generally, the unions condemn the abusive behaviour of COBAL which uses private militia to intimidate workers by searching their homes without official authorization and threatening to report Nicaraguan migrant workers to the immigration services. The firm even grants itself the right to confiscate their official documents. Workers and unions also accuse the banana firm of careless use of pesticides on its plantations, where workers’ health is regularly endangered. In addition to fumigation of the soil with pesticides, spraying the fruit with toxic substances has been denounced for years by the unions. Many complaints have already been made in this respect but the firm consistently ignores them. Although there is a regional agreement between the unions and Chiquita [7], in terms of which the firm has to respond to complaints within three days, it has still not responded to some complaints filed over a year ago.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Peuples Solidaires mission to the plantations in 2005
A Peuples Solidaires delegation visited Costa Rica in December 2005. This was an opportunity to meet representatives of the banana union Sitagah. Delegation members visited plantations and witnessed the difficulties facing trade unions. Lasting partnerships were formed.

Euroban (European Banana Action Network)
Peuples Solidaires participates in this collective of organizations and unions in European countries, which is working towards a sustainable banana economy and an improvement in the living conditions of plantation workers and small producers. Within Euroban, Peuples Solidaires supports workers’ organizations and raises awareness among French consumers.

The Bern Declaration
This Swiss organization recently published a series of articles entitled "The banana and its labels" ("La banana et ses labels") on the history of Chiquita and the various issues in the debate on the banana trade, including respect for the environment and workers’ rights (monthly publication: Vers un développement solidaire, n°191, April 2007)

WRITE !

By letter: copy the standard letter below or use your own wording. Remember to add your name, address and signature.
Support message: to give COLSIBA-CR an idea of the support on which they can rely, send them the message below.
By e-mail : mlatouche@chiquita.com - Cc: cosibacr@racsa.co.cr
Reaction time: On reception and until 30 June 2007.

PROTEST LETTER

Marco La Touche
Director de las relaciones laborales
CHIQUITA Brands Internacional
250, East Fifth street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
USA

Estimado Señor La Touche,

Me informó la asociación Pueblos Solidarios (10 quai de Richemont 35000 Rennes - France) de la intoxicación y del despido de trabajadores en la finca Coyol, propiedad de la empresa COBAL en Costa Rica. Le ruego a usted que intervenga para que :
  los trabajadores Alexander Zúñiga et Marco Borges se les devuelva a sus puestos originales con todos sus derechos
  se sancione a los verdaderos responsables de exponer la salud de los trabajadores a grandes riesgos,
  se ponga un terminó a las intimidaciones hacia los trabajadores, en particular, las violaciones que anda llevando a cabo la seguridad de la empresa en contra de la vivienda de los trabajadores que de una manera prepotente y agresiva andan requisando las viviendas de los trabajadores sin ninguna autorización del trabajador ni de un juez competente.

Seguimos atendiendo a los trámites que le rogamos emprender mediante esta carta.

Atentos saludos,

SUPPORT MESSAGE

Estimados compañeros de COSIBA CR ,

Me he enterado por Pueblos Solidarios del conflicto social entre Chiquita, los sindicatos COSIBA-CR y SITAGAH, y trabajadores de la finca Coyol, relacionado con la intoxicación con nematicida y el despido de los trabajadores Alexander Zúñiga et Marco Borges. Apoyo vuestra acción y he enviado una carta al Director de las relaciones laborales de Chiquita instándolo a responder a sus demandas.

Muy atentamente,

Translations:

Protest letter:

Best regards,

[1] François Meienberg, déclaration de Berne, Vers un Développement solidaire, n°191, April 2007, p.2.

[2] See the Chiquita website at: [http://www.chiquita.com->http://www.chiquita.com.

[3] International Labour Organization

[4] The Coyol banana plantation is situated in the Sarapiqui region, in Heredia province in the North of Costa Rica, on the Nicaraguan border.

[5] Sindicato Industrial de Trabajadores Agrícolas, Ganaderos y Anexos de Heredia

[6] Coordinadora de Sindicatos Bananeros de Costa Rica

[7] International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF), Chiquita and COLSIBA (Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Sindicatos Bananeros)