ASTAC
The Asociación Sindical de Trabajadores Bananeros Agrícolas y Campesinos ( ASTAC ) is the Ecuadorian union of plantation workers.
background
After oil and gas, fruits are the second most important export item of Ecuador. Many people work on the plantations, and the conditions there are often precarious. According to the union, there is no vacation entitlement. Women earned less than their male counterparts, even though they work just as much and hard. The income is too low to lead a decent life. According to the union, many workers earn less than the minimum wage of 366 US dollars required in Ecuador.
The use of pesticides is lax and in the past has repeatedly led to worker health problems. According to trade unionist Acosta (see below), there is a rule that the plantations must not be entered for at least twelve hours after the use of pesticides. However, this would not be adhered to and the work would partly continue under the active aircraft. This leads to many cancer and Parkinson's diseases; many children are disabled.
history
ASTAC was founded in 2014 by former fungicide pilot Jorge Acosta. Acosta was a pilot in the military, then for an airline and then worked as a pilot for spreading pesticides on the plantations of Ecuador. While oil was still sprayed at the beginning of his involvement, more and more aggressive pesticides were used over time . Acosta got health problems and from 2008 more and more workers in the plantations began to complain about them. Jorge Acosta and colleagues did their own research and found that the symptoms were caused by the pesticide mancozeb . The manufacturer did not provide any information about the health hazards of the poison. Acosta filed a lawsuit against the manufacturer in the USA, who had previously withheld the health risks and thus the prerequisite for proper handling.
As a result, many plantation workers contacted Acosta and reported about the poor working, social and health conditions in their daily work. Acosta and colleagues then took the initiative to form a union. The Ecuadorian labor law only provides for establishment at company level, which can result in considerable difficulties for individual trade unionists in the company. With the support of the Belgian trade union FOS, the ASTAC trade union was set up for the entire banana sector in Ecuador.
Make Fruit Fair campaign
Oxfam , ASTAC and other organizations investigated the working conditions on pineapple and banana plantations in Ecuador and Costa Rica . In 2016 the results were published in the study Sweet Fruits, Bitter Truths .
The report mentions farms that are certified by The Rainforest Alliance to the standards of the Network for Sustainable Agriculture (SAN). The organizations then initiated an audit.
The German retail chain Lidl sources fruit from the plantations examined. In June 2016, employees from Oxfam and ASTAC met with representatives from Lidl. They called on Lidl to contribute to better working conditions and the enforcement of human rights on the plantations of their suppliers. Lidl said human rights are important to the company, but did not sign a specific agreement on trade union rights.
After further investigations on the plantations, ASTAC again turned to Lidl and wrote: "Unfortunately we have to inform you that even after a year on the plantations from which you obtain bananas, the working conditions are poor and the human rights violations are serious. ... The wages of most of the workers are inadequate .... They are constantly in danger from the use of highly toxic pesticides. Workers who want to join our union ... are threatened. "
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Caroline Strang: Allegations against Lidl suppliers: poison on the workers. In: swp.de (Südwest Presse). August 10, 2016, accessed March 20, 2019 .
- ↑ Martin Reischke: Former pesticide pilot Jorge Acosta: Fight against the overwhelming power of chemical companies. In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur. January 23, 2017. Retrieved July 24, 2017 .
- ^ Investigations of certified fruit plantations in Ecuador and Costa Rica. In: Rainforest-Alliance.org. November 22, 2016, accessed July 24, 2017 .
- ^ Claudia von Zglinicki: Modern slavery . In: ver.di Publik . No. 5 , 2017, p. 9 ( online [accessed March 20, 2019]).