Splendor: More Information (2004-2007)

Summary: The most important worker organizing effort in the Colombian flower sector in years was effectively crushed in 2006 and 2007 by the country’s largest flower owner and exporter, U.S.-based Dole, culminating in the closing of most of the plantation and dismissal of most of the workers.

In November 2004, workers formed a union at Dole’s largest flower plantation and immediately faced an anti-union campaign that continued through 2005 and into 2006. The anti-union campaign culminated on October 12, 2006 when the company announced it would shut down the plantation. As Wal-Mart did in Canada in 2005, Dole cites profitability problems as its reason to shut down an operation in the middle of a union organizing drive. Ninety percent of Dole’s other Colombian plantations remain operational.

Dole Fresh Flowers, a subsidiary of the Dole Food Company, is the largest flower exporter and plantation owner in Colombia. In 2006, Dole controlled approximately 20% of Colombia’s flower production and exports, nearly all of which are flown to the U.S. The experience of Dole workers who have been fighting to organize a union and gain a collective bargaining agreement on the largest flower plantation of the biggest flower company in Colombia is an important and timely case study in revealing the systematic denial of basic rights in Colombia’s flower industry.

Dole workers form union. Of Dole’s 20-something plantations in Colombia, the Splendor operation has been the company’s largest, with 1,700 workers. On November 11, 2004, Splendor workers affiliated to an independent flower worker organization called Untraflores held a founding assembly to establish the Splendor flower union, Sintrasplendor. Three days later, on November 14, the union filedwith the Colombian government (the Ministry of Social Protection) an application for legal recognition.¹

Police block assembly. At a subsequent assembly meeting scheduled for November 27 at a community building in El Corzo, the union reported that a police patrol intervened to prohibit the meeting, with the accusation that the workers were going to "plan something against the company," a charge suggesting that the police intervention was requested by the company.²

Second union quickly shows up. On December 10, 2004, a second union showed up at the Ministry and also filed a request to represent the Splendor workers. The union, Sinaltraflor, has a long-standing reputation as being cozy with the employers association. Dole quickly signed a collective bargaining agreement with Sinaltraflor ten days later, on December 20, 2004. At the time, Sinaltraflor reportedly represented about 100 workers on the plantation while Sintrasplendor represented about 400 workers.³ The contract provided virtually no new benefits for the workers and contained no protections for their basic rights. A slight raise was provided, nearly exactly equivalent to the dues that are deducted from the workers pay and sent to Sinaltraflor.⁴

For the next two years, Dole argued that the contract with Sinaltraflor prevented it from bargaining with Sintrasplendor. Although an ILO consultant said that Dole was mistaken and that the company could bargain with Sintrasplendor if it had the will to do so,⁵ Dole never wavered in using the Sinaltraflor contract as an excuse to not negotiate with the independent union that initially organized the plantation.

Doles challenges union’s legal recognition. Sintrasplendor continued to organize, claiming 700 workers by the spring of 2005. On March 11, the Colombian government granted legal recognition to Sintrasplendor, the first independent flower worker union to receive legal recognition in Colombia, according to the International Labor Rights Fund. Sintrasplendor then filed a petition for collective bargaining negotiations.

In April, 2005, Dole challenged the union’s legal recognition. In July, the Ministry reversed itself and revoked the union’s registration, citing spurious technical reasons and prompting an international outcry. A month later, the Ministry reversed itself again and reinstated the union’s legal registration.

Tragedy strikes Dole workers. In July, 2005, tragedy struck the Splendor workers. An overloaded company-contracted bus rushing to avoid being late to work crashed, killing three workers. A key Sintrasplendor complaint, and an issue for the CBA negotiations that Dole refused to undertake, is bus safety.

Dole pledges good faith negotiations. In order to avoid a protest a fund-raising dinner in New York City for Social Accountability International, of which it is an Advisory Board member, Dole agreed in September, 2005 to good faith negotiations with the union.

Dole refuses to reinstate illegally fired workers. In October, 2005, Dole refused to reinstate four fired union members, despite being ordered to do so by the Ministry and despite its promise in September to negotiate with the union in good faith.[1] Dole repeated its position that it cannot negotiate with the union until the current contract expires in October 2006.

Dole threatens to close plantation. Meanwhile, workers reported an on-going campaign of discrimination against union members. Local supervisors reportedly warn workers that the company will close the plantation if it is forced to negotiate and repeatedly demonstrate their preference for Sinaltraflor.⁶

Dole makes and breaks more promises. Over the course of 2006, Dole made and broke more promises that it would resolve the conflict fairly. In April, Dole said it would abide by a fair election process but it then rejected a democratic secret ballot election. In the fall, Dole asked the government to conduct a public census of the two unions, under which the government compares the lists of each union, a process that would expose Sintrasplendor supporters to discrimination and possible dismissal. The government stated that it would conduct its census by examining dues deductions, a process not provided for in Colombian law and one which would simply grant majority union representation to the union with a contract (Sinaltraflor), since Sintrasplendor has been denied a contract and no dues are deducted. Sintrasplendor refused to participate in this farce.

Dole announces plantation closure. After nearly two years of stalling, Dole’s promised date to negotiate with Sintrasplendor neared at the end of October 2006 when the collective bargaining agreement with Sinaltraflor was due to expire. But on October 12, 2006 Dole announced the closing of most of the Splendor operations as part of a restructuring operation. Splendor and one small plantation are the only two plantations being closed in Colombia while another 18 or so will remain open. Although Dole said other plantations would suffer some cuts, Splendor workers represented the vast majority of workers effected by Dole’s restructuring in Colombia. International and national union groups and NGOs asked Dole to provide documentation to support its contention that the closing was for economic reasons rather than an anti-union response. Dole refused to provide any documentation, simply stating that Splendor is less productive than other plantations, taking the same line Wal-Mart took when it closed a store in Canada in 2005 in the face of a union organizing campaign.

Union busted. Shortly after the announced closing, Dole supervisors falsely stated to workers that they must take severance immediately or the severance will not be available after the Ministry officially authorizes the closing. Dole also said it would provide an extra incentive for workers who would take immediate severance. Together, the carrot and stick started a mass exodus from the plantation, with more than 1,000 workers leaving by year’s end. As of February 2007, only 400 workers remained employed, and by May 2007 the workforce had dropped to 80. The union is a shadow of its former self, although a small remaining group is holding on at what is left of the Splendor operation and still seeking a contract.

Anti-union message received loud and clear by flower workers. In Colombia, Dole’s message has been received loud and clear: workers who chose to organize an independent union should be prepared to lose their livelihoods. Dole may claim economic restructuring as its reason for closing Splendor but the thousands of flower workers in the Facatativa community see a defeated union drive, lost jobs, and Colombia’s most important flower company closing its largest plantation because workers tried to exercise their basic rights.

The Role of the Colombian Government. The Colombian government has hardly been at the front lines in defending the rights of workers. Leaving aside the more dramatic issue of leading the world in the number of trade unionists murdered and the 99% rate of impunity enjoyed by the killers, the government has also been negligent in protecting core worker rights when workers try to form unions. In the Splendor case, the Ministry of Social Protection delayed action on the union’s request for legal recognition, thereby providing time for Dole to sign a contract with another company-favored union, then granted Dole’s appeal to withdraw the union’s registration before an international campaign forced the Ministry to re-register the union. The Ministry was also prepared to conduct a spurious census to determine majority union representation that would have validated the collusion between Dole and Sinaltraflor and denied Splendor workers the opportunity to express freely and democratically their union preference. Nor did the Ministry ever intervene to investigate and put a stop to the company’s anti-union campaign.