By Lisa Taylor, WFP Colombia
In the United States, February 14th has
traditionally been celebrated as Valentine’s Day, a day when love is often
translated into special plans with loved ones, extra words of affection, and –
not to be forgotten – certain material gifts, often including flowers. Before these
flowers are given as a gift, they have already accumulated quite a long
history: seeds collected and planted, young flowers watered and pruned, grown
flowers cut and processed, packaged and exported carefully by workers in the
flower industry.
Two out of every three flowers in the United States is imported
from Colombia, as Colombia is the second-largest exporter of flowers in the
world behind Holland. Behind the beauty of the flowers exported, there is a often hidden array of complex economic, labor, social, and
environmental factors with direct consequences for those who work in the
industry.
Conditions in the
industry
According to a January 2017 report by Corporación Cactus, 65 percent of flower
workers are women, and many are single mothers in economically vulnerable
situations. Pregnancy tests and birth control are often required for women to
gain and maintain employment in the flower sector, especially as their close
proximity to toxic and carcinogenic pesticides can cause birth defects and
health risks for pregnant women.
During peak seasons, including leading up to February 14th
as well as leading up to Mother’s Day, employees often work 12-22 hours,
earning little pay and suffering major health impacts from repetitive
activities and dangerous pesticides. Workloads and production goals increase
each year, and workers have consistently been denied their right to unionize or
collectively bargain. The large majority of employee contracts are temporary,
and the renewal of these contracts is subject to the will of the flower
businesses.
As former flower worker Glady Mora says, “It’s giving your
life to this work totally, and here in Colombia, there is a lot of exploitation
[. . .] And the pay doesn’t compensate for the reality of the work.”
In addition to labor rights violations, the cultivation of
flowers in Colombia has also involved systematically implementing neoliberal
international trade principles and practices, including reducing expenses
at any cost to increase profits and relying on third-party subcontracting.
Under the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), made
effective in 2012 despite many concerns about labor rights in Colombia, giant
swathes of monoculture flowers have been cultivated in certain regions, notably
the Bogotá Savannah and eastern Antioquia, eliminating the cultivation of
diverse crops and affecting the food sovereignty of the population. The tax
benefits of the FTA have largely benefitted corporations, notably the
Association of Colombian Flower Exporters (ASOCOLFLORES), while workers in the
field suffer a variety of labor rights violations.
As Marco Tulio Franco from SINALTRAINAL comments, “Today the
problems are even worse. Problem #1 for the workers is their health, also job
instability due to the neoliberal model, the poor treatment of workers by management, and the work pace of each day.”
As a precursor to the U.S.-Colombia FTA and in response to
many concerns from labor activists, the United States government came to an
agreement in 2011 known as the Labor
Action Plan (LAP) with the Colombian government to protect labor rights and
prevent violence against unionists. The LAP focuses on five specific sectors:
palm oil, ports, mining, sugar, and flowers. Despite the positive goals of the
LAP and due to the lack of any effective implementation/monitoring mechanisms,
the LAP has been characterized by Colombian unionists as almost entirely
ineffective, with an official
complaint being registered with the Department of Labor in May 2016.
In the LAP, there are several important aspects that
directly impact the flower industry in Colombia. All forms of third-party
subcontracting (particularly associative worker cooperatives) were supposed to
be eliminated, workers should have greater freedom to organize, and labor
inspectors ought to regularly visit the greenhouses where the flower industry
operates. According to Corporación Cactus’s 2017 report, none of these goals
have been fully achieved and workers continue to operate in an extremely
precarious environment.
So, what do we do?
After learning about the flower industry in Colombia and the
U.S.’s failure to guarantee labor rights, what can U.S. citizens do to help?
The question of boycott is often raised, yet Colombian flower workers are not
calling for a direct boycott of flowers – after all, it is the only source of
income for many women and families in flower-exporting municipalities.
Current flower worker Marisol Santacruz emphasizes the value
of the flower industry, saying, “I believe that flower work is important,
especially because it provides many families in the Bogotá Savannah the means
to subsist, and it has been valued for years.”
When asked by Witness for Peace what actions can be taken, representatives
of the flower sector said they prefer that consumers buy with their conscience. That
is, ask your flower supplier where they are sourcing their flowers from and ask
them to verify worker conditions in that location, as well as social and
environmental impacts of the industry.
One more action you can take is to encourage a resolution
introduced by Representative Keith Ellison in the United States House of
Representatives that would commemorate February 14th as
International Flower Workers’ Day, an initiative supported by Colombians in the
flower sector. The introduction of this resolution in the U.S. House of
Representatives has a double purpose: to recognize and dignify the labor of
flower workers in Colombia and the culture of flowers they celebrate, and to
build the groundwork for renewed U.S. engagement with flower workers in Colombia
to concretely improve the labor, social, and environmental conditions
that result from the industry.
Ricardo Zamudio from Corporación Cactus says that this is “a
way to recognize the importance of respecting the rights of those who make possible
the success of the flower industry abroad. It’s also a way to call the
attention of the Colombian government and in particular, the U.S. Congress so
that they fulfill the obligations that are written in the Labor Action Plan
under the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. It’s also a call to [. . .]
respecting labor rights and protecting the environment and the use of water.”
So before buying flowers this February 14th,
check with your supplier and click
here to contact your congressperson and encourage them to support the
resolution making February 14th International Flower Workers’ Day.