Flower Worker Campaigns and Initiatives

The Dole Flower Worker Justice Campaign

The largest grower and exporter of flowers from Colombia is Dole, which is also the largest exporter of flowers from Latin America to the U.S.       

Workers at Dole’s largest flower plantation in Colombia began organizing in November 2004 to fight for better wages and working conditions.  After a two-year struggle against Dole’s anti-union actions, the company announced in October 2006 that it would close the plantation in 2007.  Dole has refused to provide evidence to justify the closing on economic terms. USLEAP and others consider the closing an anti-union shutdown.  Workers at a second Dole plantation in Colombia, Fragancia, report that the company has used the same tactics as at Splendor, thereby preventing workers from forming a union of their choice.  

The Dole Global Campaign 

Dole’s denial of worker rights in the flower and banana sectors has prompted a global campaign against the company that began in 2006.  USLEAP joined with 74 other organizations in denouncing Dole and urging it to make a commitment “in practice” to respect the basic rights of workers.

Bochica Farms

Workers at this flower plantation formed the only existing flower union in the region of Antioquia, Colombia in January 2007.  Within days, they faced illegal firings, intimidation from management, and death threats from paramilitaries in the region.  The remaining union members have continued their struggle in spite of these obstacles, but are in need of support.