| February 15, 2005
Fair Flowers for Valentine's
Day:
Support Ecuadorian Flower
Workers
Action: Write the Ecuadorian Minister
of Labor and Human
On February 9, Ecuadorian
flower workers filed the paperwork to establish the
Federación de Trabajadores Floricultores 14 de Febrero,
which seeks to strengthen and protect the labor rights
of flower workers. Currently, only workers at four
flower companies have managed to organize, due to
intense anti-union repression by employers, and thus
only workers at those plantations have the ability
to join a union. This Federation would be the first
union in Ecuador to represent flower workers from
any plantation, giving more workers the opportunity
to collectively defend the rights that the labor law
supposedly guarantees them. However, the Ministry
has repeatedly refused to register this type of union,
after consulting with the flower exporters' association,
and despite the fact that the workers have fulfilled
all of the legal requirements. This time, the flower
workers are asking for the support of international
organizations and consumers like you, to encourage
the Ministry not to unjustly deny their right to freely
associate.
Action
Please send letters
expressing support for legalization of this federation
to the Minister of Labor and Human Resources, with
copies to the President of the Constitutional Court.
Ask the Ministry to base their decision solely on
the legal basis of whether or not the workers have
fulfilled all of the legal requirements and presented
all of the correct paperwork, not on whether or not
the flower companies are in favor of having their
workers represented by a union. The workers' legal
right to freedom of association must be respected.
Send this sample letter,
in Spanish, to the Minister of Labor and the Constitutional
Court (contact info below), signed with your name
or your organization's name. See below for the English
translation.
SAMPLE LETTER
Raúl Izurieta Mora Bowen
Minister of Labor
Clemente Ponce N15 - 59 y Piedrahita
Quito, Ecuador
FAX: 011 593 2 2503 122
Email: ministro@mintrab.gov.ec
Estimado Sr. Ministro,
Le escribo respetuosamente
para dar apoyo a la solicitud presentada esta misma
semana a su oficina, para establecer la Federación
de Trabajadores Floricultores 14 de Febrero. Me da
mucha preocupación que, en el pasado, su ministerio
ha consultado con la asociación de exportadores de
flores, Expoflores, antes de tomar decisión sobre
las solicitudes de los trabajadores floricultores,
y que éste ha influenciado su decisión de rechazar
la legitimidad de esta federación. Si los trabajadores
han cumplido con los requisitos del Código Ecuatoriano
del Trabajo, su petición no debe ser negado simplemente
porque las empresas de la industria floricultora no
simpatizan con los sindicatos.
Me preocupan también
las violaciones a los derechos laborales y las amenazas
ocupacionales a la salud que ocurren en muchas plantaciones
de flores en Ecuador. Las y los trabajadores merecen
tener la habilidad de defenderse colectivamente y
de promover los derechos que les están garantizados
por la ley ecuatoriana. El Código Ecuatoriano del
Trabajo garantiza el derecho a libertad de asociación
a las y los trabajadores, y le pido respetar este
derecho haciendo una revisión justa a la solicitud
de los trabajadores floricultores. Me interesaría
saber los resultados de este proceso de revisión del
Ministerio. Gracias de antemano por su atención a
este asunto importante.
Atentamente,
[your name]
Copy to:
Dr. Estuardo Gualle Bonilla
President of the Constitutional Court
12 de Octubre N16 - 114
Quito, Ecuador
FAX: 011 593 2 2905 500
Email: info@tc.gov.ec
With a copy to IEDECA (the NGO that works to support
flower workers)
FAX 011 593 2 2360 724
Email: iedecay@andinanet.net
Translation of Letter:
I am writing in support
of the application presented to your office this week
to establish the Federación de Trabajadores Floricultores
14 de Febrero. I am concerned that in the past, your
office has consulted with the flower exporters' association,
Expoflores, before making a decision about the flower
workers' applications, and that this has led to your
decision to refuse to legalize the organization. If
the workers comply with the requirements of the Ecuadorian
Labor Code, their petition should not be denied simply
because the flower companies are not union-friendly.
I am concerned about
the labor rights violations and occupational health
hazards that occur on many Ecuadorian flower plantations.
The workers deserve to have the ability to collectively
defend and promote the rights guaranteed them by Ecuadorian
law. The Ecuadorian Labor Code guarantees workers
the right to freedom of association, and I urge you
to respect this right by giving the flower workers'
application a fair review. I look forward to hearing
the results of the review process. Thank you for your
attention to this matter.
*Background*:
Article 447 of the Ecuadorian
Labor Code establishes that "Professional associations
or unions have the right to join together to create
federations, confederations, or any other type of
union group, as well as to join or retire from these
groups or from international workers' or employers'
organizations." The workers have complied with the
requirements established by Article 450 of the Labor
Code in their application to the Ministry of Labor
for legalization of the flower workers federation.
This is their third attempt to create the union. In
2002, they presented documentation proposing the name
Regional Flower Workers' Union (Sindicato Regional
de Trabajadores Floricultores). The Ministry of Labor
consulted with Expoflores before deciding whether
or not to approve the establishment of this new union.
Expoflores is the association of Ecuadorian flower
producers and exporters, therefore representing the
companies' and employers' interests. After consulting
with Expoflores, which presumably was not happy with
the possibility of the new union being established,
the Ministry refused to approve the establishment
of the union. The exporters' association should not
have the right to deny the workers the freedom to
form this type of union. The Ministry should base
the decision on whether or not the workers have fulfilled
all the legal requirements, presented appropriate
statutes, etc, not on whether or not the employers
are union-friendly.In 2003, the workers tried again.
They called themselves the Provincial Association
of Flower Workers (Asociación Provincial de Trabajadores
Floricultores). Again, the Ministry of Labor consulted
with Expoflores, and then again refused to approve
it.
On Wed. Feb 9 the unions
once again presented their application for legalization
of the "Federación de Trabajadores Florícolas 14 de
Febrero" (a sector-wide union that can represent all
flower workers in Ecuador) to the Minister of Labor
and Human Resources in Quito. Take this opportunity
to support these workers at a crucial point in their
struggle! Write a letter to the Ministry of Labor
and the Constitutional Court today!
Common labor rights violations in the cut flower industry:
-
Discrimination:
Employers discriminate against women in hiring
because they don't want to pay the legally mandated
benefits or give maternity leave. Women who apply
for jobs in flower plantations are frequently
required to take illegal pregnancy tests.
-
The business owners at flower
plantations are hiring fewer and fewer workers
directly, and instead hiring temporary workers
and/or through subcontractors. Subcontracting
and job instability complicate training processes
and impede workers' attempts to organize unions.
Subcontracted workers do not receive the same
benefits as directly hired workers (training,
transportation, social security, food, etc). Some
plantation owners create "ghost companies"
to subcontract their own workers. It is a way
to divide workers and prevent them from organizing.
If the workers complain about anything, the "ghost
company" can be declared bankrupt and be
replaced by another "company" with another
name and different workers. Among the subcontracted
workers there are an increasing number of children.
These children are paid less than minimum wage,
do not receive uniforms or protective equipment,
and are not given access to medical insurance
or social security.
-
Unions: Freedom
of association is not respected. Of 300 flower
companies, only 4 have unions. Workers are afraid
to try to organize because their employers threaten
to fire them if they do. Blacklisting is a common
practice; workers who organize or attempt to do
so are put on a list shared with other companies
and are not hired again.
-
Workers are exposed to over 100
pesticides, many of which are extremely toxic.
Many flower companies do not take occupational
health concerns seriously or provide sufficient
protective equipment. Workers suffer from a variety
of illness as a result of pesticide exposure,
including vomiting, digestive and respiratory
problems, allergies, and long-term vision problems.
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