Lydia López González’s day typically starts at 3:30am. That gives the 47-year-old single mother from Facatativá, central Colombia, time to make breakfast and lunch for her daughter before leaving for the flower fields at 5am.
“I don’t like leaving her, but what else can I do? Anyway, I’m usually back by 5pm. Many of the other women don’t get home until midnight”, she says.
González is one of tens of thousands of workers in Colombia’s Savanna de Bogotá region working to produce the carnations, roses and other flowers hitting UK shelves this Valentine’s Day. Behind the beautiful bouquets, however, lie worrying reports of poor pay, long hours and other systemic labour abuses.
In recent years, Colombia has emerged as the world’s second largest flower exporter, with plane-loads of freshly-cut flowers leaving for the US, UK, Japan and other markets every day. Exports increased by 4.4% between 2013-2014, according to the Cactus Corporation, a Bogotá-based campaign group, which claims the industry’s US$1.3bn (2012) annual sale revenues are being bought at the cost of workers’ rights.
“We’re very preoccupied about the conditions of those who are making these increases in productivity possible”, says Ricardo Zamudio, president of Cactus. “These workers receive the absolute minimum wage of 644,000 pesos a month (£175), which only covers about 40% of their typical monthly outgoings.”
Zamudio highlights health concerns among workers too, many of whom are compelled to work double shifts in the run-up to busy periods such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. According to testimonies collected by Cactus, carpel tunnel syndrome, tendonitis and other repetitive strain injuries are commonplace among flower workers, around two-thirds (65%) of whom are women. The Colombian non-profit has also registered cases of exposure to toxic chemicals during fumigation.
UK charity Christian Aid echoes similar concerns. “Often they [women workers] work for more than 16 hours a day under a very strict monitoring to keep productivity high, which not only means that they can hardly rest, but also that everything has to be done at incredible speed”, says Thomas Mortensen, the charity’s country manager in Colombia.
“As a consequence of the long hours and high productivity, many women suffer from work related health problems, for example permanent damage to the wrists for cutting so many flowers”, he adds.
Attempts by workers to mobilise, meanwhile, are hampered by Colombia’s historic hostility towards trade unions. “No guarantee of rights” is the International Trade Union Confederation’s succinct assessment of the situation.This is further compounded by the increasing use of temporary contractual workers in the Colombian flower industry, most of whom are non-unionised.
While some flower producers allow for freedom of association, few workers’ groups are independent. Those that are, such as the National Union of Flower Workers (Untraflores), face a “real culture of stigmatisation”, says Zamudio. Union leader López González’s learned that to her cost, finding herself suspended without pay for four days last week simply for requesting a statutory break for her and her fellow workers.
Colombia’s flower producers insist that steps are being taken to improve standards. The Colombian Association of Flower Exporters, for instance, has developed a comprehensive social and environmental certification scheme. The Florverde Sustainable Flowers seal covers a range of employment protections, health and safety requirements, and environmental good practices.
“The standard has introduced some International Labour Organsation criteria and conventions that are not so explicit in local legislation … this can help the market know that in these farms those conditions are guaranteed”, says Ximena Franco Villegas, director of Florverde.
Other independence certification schemes are also increasingly prevalent in Colombia’s flower industry, including Rainforest Alliance, Fair Flowers Fair Plants and Fairtrade. Demand for sustainably-certified flowers remains low, however. Only 52 farms are currently registered under Florverde, for instance, representing just over 2,000 hectares.
UK importer Quartz Flowers admits that few of its commercial customers ask for anything more than a basic “phytosanitary” (plant health) import certificate. “What we find in the UK with our customers [is that] if the product is of good quality, is consistent, then they don’t really ask for that [sustainability certification]”, says a spokesperson for the importer.
Even so, Adam Porges, chair of the UK’s Flower Import Trade Association, insists that UK consumers can buy Colombia flowers with confidence. “I’ve been to Colombia many, many times over the years and what we see are very happy workers – mostly women – working on farms in areas where there otherwise wouldn’t be employment opportunities for them”, he states.
The likes of López González do not deny that Colombia’s export flower industry provides jobs – up to 130,000, according to the Colombian Association of Flower Exporters. The question is whether such jobs equate to dignified employment.
López González is doubtful. “There are no other job options here, but it’s not fair employment that these companies offer”, she say. “With the profits they make, they could provide us with much better working and economic conditions, with a dignified wage and a fair job.”
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