Religious Leaders Send a Valentine to Agricultural Giant Dole

Posted by Joshua Holland, AlterNet at 9:58 AM on February 14, 2008.

The following is a press release issued by the U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project.

Chicago, IL, February 12, 2008- "People of faith in the U.S. are increasingly convinced that our companies should be expected to uphold moral standards with workers in operations abroad," according to a letter released today by thirteen US religious leaders for Valentine's Day. The letter, sent to Dole Fresh Flowers President and CEO David DeLorenzo, requests that the company pursue a fair and positive working relationship with flower workers in their operations overseas. This issue is particularly poignant for religious leaders as houses of worship of all faiths are major consumers of flowers for decoration and religious ceremony.

"We cannot relish or recommend the products that are the result of deprivation of the workers of their rights, forced overtime, over-exposure to pesticide and other exploitive practices," wrote Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, the National Director of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).

In the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day, flower workers are often required to work 12-15 hour days with few breaks and are subjected to increased productivity quotas. According to Charity Ryerson, USLEAP Program Coordinator, "flower workers routinely undergo repetitive stress injuries, health problems related to over-exposure to pesticides, and humiliating and degrading treatment by management." Dole is the largest producer and exporter of fresh cut flowers from Latin America to the United States, supplying 60% of the U.S. flower market.

This letter was organized by the US Labor Education in the Americas Project (USLEAP), who has been pressuring Dole to address worker right concerns since 2004. Interested consumers and advocates for worker rights can learn more about the Flower Campaign at http://usleap.org/node/94

The letter follows ….

February 12, 2008

David DeLorenzo
President and CEO
Dole Fresh Flowers
One Dole Drive
Westlake Village, CA 91362

Dear Mr. DeLorenzo:

As religious leaders in the United States, we believe in the importance of fair treatment of workers and respect for worker rights everywhere, at home and abroad. All our faith traditions support workers' rights, living wages, safe working conditions, and a voice in the workplace through unions and collective action.

As you know, Dole is the focus of an international initiative to encourage the company to improve respect for freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining at all of its operations abroad with a specific focus on the Latin American banana and flower sectors. We join with others in requesting that your company pursue a fair and positive working relationship with the workers in your operations overseas.

We are writing at this time to request that you deal justly with your Colombian flower workers as they attempt to exercise their basic internationally recognized worker rights, including the right to organize and to collective bargaining.

Given that Dole is the largest exporter of fresh cut flowers from Latin America to the United States and that Colombia supplies 60% of the U.S. flower market, respect for the basic rights of Dole workers in the Colombian flower sector is especially important.

We understand that workers at two Dole flower plantations in Colombia have organized independent unions and have been attempting, without success, to negotiate contracts with your company for the past several years. These workers report that they organized unions in order to address concerns about low wages, long hours, high productivity quotas, humiliation by management, and health problems associated with repetitive motion and over-exposure to pesticides.

The Untraflores flower union, who has plant-level unions at two of your Colombian plantations, reports that Dole is widely perceived to be an anti-union company and that rumors have spread around the plantations that last year's closing of the Splendor plantation was the final blow of a long anti-union campaign. Many workers are afraid that if they organize, they will lose their jobs.

Currently, you have an opportunity to show your workers that Dole is not opposed to the free exercise of worker rights. The independent union at your La Fragancia plantation, Untrafragancia, has submitted a contract proposal and is hoping to start negotiations with local management shortly. They have submitted their paperwork to the local officials in accordance with local law. In spite of widespread fear of reprisal, almost half of the workers at the plantation are members of the union.

People of faith in the U.S. are increasingly convinced that our companies should be expected to uphold moral standards with workers in operations abroad. We hope that you will uphold your image as a socially responsible company by negotiating in good faith and signing fair contracts with the independent unions at your flower plantations as quickly as possible. We will be following this issue and hope to see progress soon.

In good faith,

Reverend A. Roy Medley
General Secretary
American Baptist Churches USA

Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed
National Director
Islamic Society of North America

Reverend Linda Jaramillo
Executive Minister
United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries

Reverend John Q. Owens
Director, Social Action Commission
African Methodist Episcopal Church

Fr. Michael McNulty, SJ
Justice and Peace Director
Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Sung-ok Lee
Assistant General Secretary
Section of Christian Social Responsibility, Women's Division
General Board of Global Ministries
United Methodist Church

Rob Kiethan
Director, Washington Office for Advocacy
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations

Rev. Dr. Ken Brooker Langston
Director, Disciples Justice Action Network
Coordinator, Disciples Center for Public Witness

Daryl Yoder-Bontrager
Area Director, Latin America and Caribbean
Mennonite Central Committee

Brian McLauchlin, SVD
Divine Word Missionaries
Chicago Province

Betty Kenny, OSF
Peace and Justice Coordinator
Franciscan Peace and Justice Committee
Rochester Franciscans

Tagged as: valentine's day, dole, colombia, flowers

Joshua Holland is an editor and senior writer at AlterNet.