Appeal n° 315 (21 March to 31 May 2008)

Guatemala offers cheap labour unlikely to fight for its rights, and is therefore an attractive location for big fruit companies. Since they are not accountable for the working conditions on their plantations, these multinationals have for the past few years being hiring labour from local Guatemalese agencies whose repressive and violent anti-union practices are well known. In October 2007 we denounced the murder of a trade unionist employed by a supplier of Del Monte in Guatemala. Two months later we were concerned about the practices of a supplier of Chiquita, which was threatening an independent union set up on the Olga Maria plantation. Although we demanded proper investigations into this violence, nothing has been done. It is therefore in a context of near total impunity that Chiquita’s supplier has been able to carry on oppressing workers on its plantation. The result was a new tragedy on 2 March 2008: the murder of another trade unionist.

The Bananeraie du Sud workers’ union (SITRABANSUR) was founded in July 2007 by workers employed by the Guatamalese firm Frutera Internacional which produces bananas for Chiquita. The union wanted to negotiate a collective agreement with the employer and demanded the application of the legal minimum wage and an end to repeated temporary contracts. But Frutera failed to see things in the same light and knew that the authorities would turn a blind eye if it repressed its employees’ attempts to secure respect for their rights.

Harassment, threats and murder of a unionist

As soon as it was informed of the identity of those who had created the union, Frutera used its private security service to dissuade them from upholding their demands. The company stopped at nothing in its attempts to destroy the union: threats, harassment and attempted harassment at work as well as at their homes. In November 2007 the owner of the plantation, Fernando Bolaños, a man well-known for his aggressive anti-union practices, gathered all the plantation workers to announce to them that unless the union disbanded, the plantation would close down and they would all be unemployed. A few days later the union members were detained illegally by armed men. Threats of dismissal or closure of the plantation, along with offers of bonuses of €400 for those who agreed to stop all union activity, were some of the arms used to pressurize them into quitting the union. The plantation manager himself finally made the most explicit threat: "if the union doesn’t give up, we’ll soon see bodies floating on the river".

Under this type of pressure, some did agree to give up. Others held out but were immediately sacked. They tried to obtain recognition of their rights, by rightly maintaining that the company could not legally fire them for having participated in the creation of a union, but they were expelled by the firm’s armed security guards. The general secretary of the union, German Aguilar, was kept prisoner and manhandled for a whole night. His assailants tried to force him to give them the list of his union’s leaders but he refused. He was eventually forced to resign. On 2 February one of his daughters was attacked and raped by members of the Frutera private security guards who wanted information on his union activities. A month later, Miguel Ángel Ramírez, one of the founders of the union, was cold-bloodedly murdered at his home. A few days later another union leader, Alberto Lopez Pérez, narrowly escaped assailants who had broken into his home. He was able to flee and to hide at a friend’s house.

The public authorities turn a deaf ear

In December 2007 we launched a letter campaign in which we demanded that Chiquita guarantee the safety of trade unionists on the Olga Maria plantation. Three months later our worries proved to be founded, but Chiquita is still ignoring its responsibilities. In this affair, Frutera, Chiquita’s supplier, knows that it can count on the multinational’s passiveness and on the public authorities’ silence.

Newly-elected President Álvaro Colóm recently undertook publicly to do everything possible to eradicate violence against trade unionists and to put a stop to impunity in Guatemala [1] .

The time has now come for him to show that this promise is not a dead letter. Peuples Solidaires is therefore appealing to everyone’s solidarity to demand that the Guatamalese president ensure that justice be done, and that those behind the murder of trade unionist Miguel Ángel Ramírez are identified and judged, in accordance with the law.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Appeal in liaison with EUROBAN (European Banana Action Network)
Peuples Solidaires is participating in this collective of NGOs and trade unions in European countries, which is working towards a sustainable banana economy and an improvement in the living conditions of small producers and plantation workers. Within Euroban, Peuples Solidaires supports worker organizations and raises consciousness among French consumers.

Chiquita’s commitments
Chiquita signed an agreement in 2001 on freedom of association and minimum working and employment standards in the banana sector, with COLSIBA, the South American coordination of banana unions, under the aegis of the IUF (International Union of Food, Farm and Hotel Workers: www.iuf.org).

Peuples Solidaires Appeals for Guatemala
  October 2007 : "Guatemala: Return of the Death Squads" (Appeal n° 311)
  December 2007 : "A trade union undermined at the roots" (Appeal n°312)

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has published a report entitled "Guatemala: Trade unions at the heart of the fight against impunity", available on its website: www.ituc-csi.org/

WRITE !

Send a protest e-mail to the President of Guatemala HERE!

By letter: download the standard letter at the bottom of this page.
Deadline for reaction: on reception and until 31 May 2008.

Protest letter

Presidente de La República de Guatemala
Ing. Álvaro Colom Casa Presidencial, 6a. Avenida, 4-18, zona 1,
Ciudad de Guatemala
GUATEMALA

Señor Presidente:

Me he enterado(a) por la asociación Pueblos Solidarios (Francia) del asesinato, el 2 de marzo de 2008, de Miguel Ángel Ramírez, cofundador del Sindicato de los Trabajadores Bananeros del Sur (SITRABANSUR), de la Finca Olga Maria ubicada en Escuintla. Le hago llegar mi profunda indignación ante ese asesinato, que viene a sumarse a la large lista de los hechos de represión sindical violentos por la empresa Frutera Internacional. En enero de 2008, Usted expresó su decisión de luchar a fin de erredicar la violencia contra los sindicalistas, lograr el pleno respeto de los derechos sindicales en su país y el fin de la impunidad. Le ruego que haga cierto este compromiso y le encaresco que Usted, su Gobierno y todas las instituciones del Estado, hagan absolutamente todo lo necesario para disuadir, perseguir y castigar a los actores de estas violencias. Le encaresco una acción rápida y efectiva para identificar a los autores del asesinato de Miguel Ángel Ramírez y de las violaciones cometidas por la empresa Frutera, y espero que los culpables sean juzgados y sentenciados para poner fin a la impunidad en Guatemala.

Le saluda atentamente,

Translation of the protest letter

Dear Sir,

I have been informed by Peuples Solidaires of the murder of Miguel Ángel Ramírez, co-founder of the trade union SITRABANSUR, from the Olga Maria plantation in Escuintla. I wish to express my profound indignation with regard to this murder - yet another one on the long list[attention: coquille ici dans le français] of acts of trade union repression committed by the firm Frutera Internacional. In January 2008 you undertook to eradicate violence against trade unionists, to ensure that trade union rights are fully respected, and to put an end to impunity in Guatemala. I urge you to fulfil this commitment and exhort you and your government and all state institutions to take all the necessary measures to dissuade, arrest and punish those responsible for such violence. In particular, I appeal to you to take swift and effective measures to identify those responsible for the murder of Miguel Ángel Ramírez and the violations committed by the firm Frutera. I hope that those who are guilty will be brought to trial and sentenced so that impunity in Guatemala can be stopped.

Yours sincerely,

Support Letter

UNSITRAGUA
9 avenida. 1-43 Zona 1
Ciudad Guatemala
GUATEMALA

Estimados amigos de UNSITRAGUA:

Me he enterado(a) por Pueblos Solidarios (Francia) del asesinato del compañero Miguel Ángel Ramírez, cofundador del Sindicato de los Trabajadores Bananeros del Sur (SITRABANSUR), de la Finca Olga Maria et las otras violaciones a los derechos sindicales de los trabajadores, cometidas por la empresa Frutera Internacional.
Estoy sumamente indignado(a) por los hechos de violencia sufridos por los miembros de SITRABANSUR, y he enviado una carta al présidente de Guatemala, el señor Colóm, exhortándole a responder inmediatamente a vuestras demandas.
En solidaridad,

Translation of the support letter

Dear friends at UNSITRAGUA,

I have been informed by Peuples Solidaires of the murder of Miguel Ángel Ramírez, co-founder of the Bananeraies du Sud trade union (SITRABANSUR), from the Olga Maria plantation, and of other violations of workers’ rights committed by the firm Frutera Internacional. I have sent a letter to the President of Guatemala, Mr Colóm, expressing my indignation at the violence to which members of SITRABANSUR have been subjected, and exhorting him to meet your demands immediately.

Best regards,

[1] ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) conference on the role of trade unions in the struggle against impunity, held on 29 and 31 January in Guatemala City.