A collective bargaining table, formed by
SINTRAINAGRO, in representation
of banana workers, and by AUGURA,
in representation of 350 companies from
the sector, is scheduled to begin talks
on March 24 in Apartadó, Antioquia.
The Executive Committee of the
United Workers’ Federation (CUT)
received the report presented by the
President of SINTRAINAGRO,
Guillermo Rivera Zapata, who is also
a member of CUT’s National
Executive Committee.
Rivera
forecasts that negotiations will take
place against the backdrop of rarefied
labor relations, an intense harassment
campaign targeting the Union, and
numerous difficulties in the bargaining
process. The banana industry companies
have been sending off negative signals
even before the actual bargaining
begins, ignoring SINTRAINAGRO’s
numerous demands and appeals to dissolve
the associated work cooperatives and put
an end to temporary employment.
This is a key point in the collective
bargaining process and one of the
leading demands of the Union.
CORPOLIBERTAD
SINTRAINAGRO
officially launched CORPOLIBERTAD,
an organization formed to coordinate
actions and work to include the victims
of violence -primarily from the region
of Urabá- among the beneficiaries
of the Justice, Truth and Reparation
Act. The launching ceremony was held on
March 7 and the initiative received the
support of citizen groups, human rights
organizations and some trade federations
from the commerce sector of Antioquia.
Also attending the ceremony were
National Vice President Francisco Santos,
in representation of the government,
CUT President Tarsicio Mora
Godoy, heading a large delegation,
and some 2,600 people in representation
of the victims.
While the news of this event may seem to
bear no relation to the issue of
collective bargaining in the banana
sector, the two issues are in fact very
much related. SINTRAINAGRO sent a
special invitation to the association
that groups the banana industry
companies and was told that no
representatives would be attending due
to security concerns, which were
obviously not considered by the Vice
President of the Republic, the CUT
delegation, and a significant number of
guests from Antioquia and around the
country as an impediment to attend.
The fact that banana industry companies
displayed such a disdainful attitude and
put forward a ridiculous argument in
refusing to attend the launching of
CORPOLIBERTAD, evidences the
sector’s lack of commitment to human
rights. In this way these companies are
avoiding their political responsibility,
because, by action or omission, they are
connected with the acts of violence that
are so widespread in the banana region,
by virtue of the Chiquita Brands
transnational corporation’s admission
that it financed paramilitary groups,
supposedly to guarantee the “safety of
its officers.”
The attitude of the banana business
sector is also seen as an advance of the
response it will give to the Union’s
list of demands. One of the demands
included is the creation of a social
fund for the reparation of the victims
of violence in Urabá, the vast
majority of which are members of the
union.
Solidarity with SINTRAINAGRO grows
The Executive Committee of the
United Workers’ Federation quickly
declared its solidarity and decided to
hold a meeting in the region of Urabá
to coordinate actions with
SINTRAINAGRO with the aim of
ensuring the protection and
strengthening of collective bargaining
efforts.
SINTRAINAGRO
also received a message of solidarity
from UITA, the IUF’s Latin
American Regional Office, expressing its
broadest support.
The international labor federation will
accompany the bargaining process with a
global support and awareness campaign in
coordination with consumer organizations.
This campaign will demand that both the
National Government and the banana
business sector responsibly address the
just requests of SINTRAINAGRO.
