(This is a brief extract from the report of Katrina Purcell on the visit of the Banana Link Delegation to central America)
An approach was made by Banana Link to the STUC for a representative to participate in the British trade union delegation to meet with the Latin American banana workers unions who are participating in the Banana Link Union-to-Union project. This was a working meeting of the seven plantation workers' unions from five countries of Latin America and five of the British trade union organisations which have been involved in directly supporting the 'Union to Union' programme through financial and political solidarity work and/or awareness-raising activities within their own organisations.
The objective of the programme in Latin America is to strengthen the banana workers' unions so that they can help reverse the unfavourable social and environmental conditions in and around the plantations. Integral to the whole programme though is the involvement of trade unions in Britain in supporting this effort, including by the influence that can be brought to bear on the UK government and the companies involved at the consumer end of the banana chain.
The meeting, proposed by the Latin American unions earlier this year, will look at how to develop the links that have already emerged since 2001, as well as how to improve communications and collaborative work into the future.
The ‘Union to Union’ programme is currently funded by the Department for International Development Civil Society Challenge Fund, CAFOD, and Trocaire (the Irish Catholic International Development charity). The four key areas of the current Latin American programme of work (2004 to 2007) are:
• Trade union organising and collective bargaining (including legal defence) • Education and training • Institutional strengthening of women in the organisations • Political lobbying of different government ministries and dialogue with the banana companies
The ‘Union to Union’ meeting was followed by the delegation splitting with the representatives of the GMB going onto Costa Rica and the rest of the delegation (myself included) going onto Ecuador with FENACLE to a delegation focused at organising young people in the plantations. Union to Union
This was the formal meetings part of the delegation. 3 days of setting the scene on the situation affecting banana workers and their unions in the 5 Latin American countries who are participants in the Union-to-Union project. In addition there was discussion on the following areas that unions had previously identified, these being: -
Social and workplace problems facing women workers
Challenges for young people in the banana plantations and communities
Labour casualisation in the plantations
Loss of political space for trade union representation in international bodies like the ILO
Movement of capital from Europe to Latin America
Impacts of globalisation
Potential alliances to lobby supermarkets
Legal cooperation
Privatisation of services
Coordinating urgent solidarity actions