I don't see any s+n of Christian organization in either the bananas-specific subsector or in the food workers industrial sector more largely. However, it coud be that some shreds of RomanCatholic-inspired unions are present there, especially in the Latin American geo-strategic zone of the industry. But the dialogue partners with Fairfood in the industry are doing such a good job, from all appearances, now by advancing the notoriously-neglected basic r+ts of women in bananas-work that the lack of union pluralization of representation (a cawz for which refWrite advocates the remedy) seems not only mute but also moot.
Were there an opening anywhere for reformational-inspired pluralization of workers representation in the banana industry, the best candidate woud seem to be the Philippines banana-commodity industry organized into the Pilipino Banana Growers & Exporters Association. "The Philippine banana export industry is the 3rd biggest in the world and the only Asian country among the top 5." The subsector is concentrated on the island of Mindanao, where 50,000 hectares (123.552 acres) of farmland is devoted to growing the banana commodity, mostly for export trade with Japan, Korea, HongKong, New Zealand, Brunei, China, Singapore, the Middle East, Indonesia, Russia and Canada.
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PBGEA presents an excellent video on the industry in a Pinoy language (on Mindanao island the Pinoy languages are: Danao langs, South Minanao langs, Subanun, Manobo langs). Maybe a reader will offer us a comment on what lanaguages exist among workers in the Mindanao banana food-commodity industrial subsector.
See the video at the PBDEA webs+t
In any case, I see the Mindinao banana plantations as an opening for a twofold Christian organizational strategy in consort with Evangelical Earthkeepers (around the issues of women's labour r+ts on the plantations they work in linkage — see the FairFood solution in Chiquita plantations in Latin America — with an EE solution to the problem of aerial spraying against a deadly fungus "inherent" PBGEA suggests in the banana trees). The third leg of this suggested strategy is the formation of a Christian Labour Association of the Philippines (CLAP) to negotiate the women's labour r+ts, to work for the pluralization of workers representation of both women and men employed in the industrial subsector, and to offer an innovative break-thru technology to replace aerial spraying to the utmost extent possible (the latter strategic development woud have to involve Pinoy scientists in insecticide deployment — biology, chemistry, air spraying, etc). Both women and men have a r+t to freedom of association, also at the workplace and in a union of their own choice — not one imposed by closed, monopoly unionism. The new Pinoy labour union CLAP shoud be clearly based the Protestant Christian philosophical principle of sphere sovereignty — not on the historic RomanCatholic philosophical and doctrinal principle of subsidiarty. Understanding the difference, expressed in reformational terms in the debate between Pinoy legal theorist Drs. Romel Bagares and English political theorist Dr Jonathan Chaplin, is of utmost importance for CLAP/EE intellectuals. Need I add?, the union and the enviros of Christian inspiration may include non-Protestants and non-Christians who agree to the overall aim and goals of the these Christian organizations.
— EconoMix, refWrite Frontpage economics, business, and labour columnist
Chiquita’s steps towards gender equality
Posted on 16 April 2012, 14:30
— Fairfood (received Jun1,2k12 via email newsletter)
While Chiquita is Spanish for very small, there is nothing small about the impact Chiquita has on the banana industry. A visit to the supermarket will quickly confirm that many of the bananas in supermarkets worldwide display the unmistakable, bright yellow and blue Chiquita sticker.
Given their influence on the banana industry, it was particularly good to see Chiquita give an update on the activities of their Chiquita Women’s Committee at the second conference of the World Banana Forum (WBF) in February. The Committee, formed in connection with the historic 2001 Labour Agreement between Chiquita, the Latin American Coordinator of Banana Unions (COLSIBA) and the International Union of Food Workers (IUF), is working to promote and reinforce a safe workplace for women and to support their personal and professional development.
According to the Senior Communications Specialist at Chiquita, Irene Sandoval Arce, one of the three priorities of the Women’s Committee is to “develop a training program for women to advance technical skills”, advocate for their rights, provide them with role models, and improve health and safety conditions.
Second Conference of the World Banana Forum
Fairfood International attended this year’s conference of the WBF, which promotes the worldwide adoption of best practices for sustainable banana production and trade. According to WBF’s research, conducted in 13 countries worldwide, women working in the banana industry are the segment of the population that is most affected by discriminatory practices. Some of the major gender issues in the banana industry identified by WBF research include: sexual harassment; preferential hiring of men over women because of maternity leave and family responsibilities; age discrimination and unequal wage distribution between men and women in the industry.
For this reason, certain WBF participants from the public and private sectors are now working towards improving gender equity and working conditions for women in the banana industry. The working group on labour rights and other workplace issues set an important benchmark for gender discrimination in the banana industry at this year’s WBF conference, when it hosted the first ever global meeting of women banana workers.
Training for the future
Chiquita’s planned training, perhaps the most significant of all the developments announced at the women’s meeting, seems geared, at least in part, toward helping women workers improve their skills with the ultimate goal of advancing their roles at the plantations. This training will be further explored through a pilot project that Chiquita is currently developing to address these issues in Panama.
In addition, a new clause identified by the Women´s Committee highlighting the best practices for addressing gender discrimination will be included in the Collective Bargaining Agreement currently in place between Chiquita, IUF and COLSIBA. This is to enable all parties to continue to improve the working conditions of women at Chiquita plantations worldwide. Chiquita will also revise their company Code of Conduct. Although it appears that there are not any plans for this at this time, we at Fairfood look forward to seeing the developments of the significant work carried out by Chiquita on women’s issues, which will be reflected in future versions of the company’s Code of Conduct.
Without a doubt, Fairfood welcomes Chiquita’s commitments and is looking forward to seeing the documents shared publicly. We encourage others in the field to follow suit and take similar actions to address gender inequity and discrimination in their global supply chains. Even small steps taken by giants in the industry will have a large impact on the people within their supply chains.
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