Food for Thought
By Robert Allen
Let me give you some food for thought the next time you decide to buy a banana.
All bananas sold in Ireland come from plantations where life for the workers is a perpetual struggle for social justice. Banana workers may earn as little as $1 a day. Workers endure 11-hour shifts in unbearable heat. They are obliged to work the extra ``overtime'' hours. Those who don't or can't work overtime because of illness or family commitments are fired.
Workers are not educated about their rights and know even less about work safety. Risks of illness from exposure to pesticides like DBCP (which affects the liver and kidneys and can cause sterility in male workers and birth defects) is ever-present.
Workers are hired on short-term contracts (3-6 months), to prevent union organising.
Workers include women and children. Sexual harassment and discrimination against women are common. No creches are available for young children. Older children are required to work in the plantations instead of attending school to boost the family wage.
Workers are afraid to stand up for their rights. Dismissal for organising or joining a union is common. People with no work starve.
This is all you need to know to stop buying bananas in Irish shops. It is your choice.
The adoption in June 1998 of an International Labour Organisation declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work by its 171 workers should have made a difference to the plantation workers - but it didn't and it is unlikely to in the future unless conditions are changed.
The ILO declaration followed the establishment of an International Banana Charter in May 1998. Essentially, this is a cogent argument for a just and fair banana trade which would mean guaranteeing wokers full social, economic and labour rights, job security, a healthy and secure food supply, the rights to a safe and healthy environment and to decent housing and diversifying production for sustainable development.
Bananas are nutritionally healthy and should form part of our daily diet. I won't be buying any more in Irish shops. Instead I'll get them in Switzerland (where one in six is a fair-traded banana) or in the Netherlands (one in 12) or wait until demand in Ireland for fair-traded bananas forces distributors to import them.
It is the worker who pays for our ``cheap'' bananas in our local shops, supermarkets and market stalls. Bananas that have been fair-traded guarantee a minimum price which covers food, housing, health and the educational needs of the worker. [See box]
More information: Bananawatch. PO Box 5206, Dublin 1. Tel: 01 4753515; Email: bananas@pobox.com
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Fair-Trade Bananas
Fair-trade banana producers are guaranteed a minimum price which covers the basic needs of their workers. There is a premium of $1.75 per box towards improvements in production - which means that producers get up to twice the normal price for a box of bananas. This is crucial. It ensures equality between male and female workers, and removes forced and child labour from the production process. In addition, health cover and pension schemes are included for workers.
Fair Trade in Ireland is at 7 Upper Camden Street, Dublin 2. Tel: 01 4753515; Email: fair.mark@pobox.com
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