The Social Crisis In Banana Producing Communities

Foro Emaús

An independent studiy realized at the begining of 2002 provided critical evidence of the social conditions that banana producing communities in the Atlantic region of Costa Rica. The costs of the economic crisis created by an excess supply in the world market of bananas and problems exporting the fruit to the European market, have been transferred by the companies to the communities.

In July of 2001, the Costa Rican banana producing sector began to sufer a “new” crisis from an oversupply of bananas within the world market and the impact of modifications in the system of banana importation in the European Union. The onset of this crisis had been predicted for several years, despite the fact that neither the companies nor the government took precautions to lessen its impacts, greatly impacting the social conditions within the Atlantic region of Costa Rica. Banana workers, together with their families, are those principally affected by this crisis.

Previously, his situation was only apparent because of denuciations made by various social organizations. However, recently a study was conducted that showed and confirmed the critical sitiation in which people are living within banana producing communities.

Characteristics of the Study

The study was conducted by Mariano Sáenz, a sociologist, and a statistician, Inés Sáenz. The objective of the study was to describe the socio-economic conditions of banana producing communities in the Atlantic Zone of Costa Rica through analyzing working and living of banana workers.

To obtain this inforation, a survey of 332 banana workers was conducted. The survey had a confidence level of 97.5%. In addition, 18 key informants, primarily community leaders that, because of their functions and responsabilities maintain direct contact with banana producting communities, were also interviewed. Documents and other related studies were also used.

The survey consisted of a questionaire completed by workers and residents in the communities of 6 different banana producing centers within the province of Limon: the de Valle de la Estrella, Cariari, Siquirres, Sixaola, Batán y Río Frío.

Principle Findings

The study was conducted between December 2001 and February 2002. Among the principle findings, which more than discoveries are confirmations of denouncements made by various social organizations, are the following:

• Low salaries and limited earnings: The salaries that banana workers actually receive are low, almost 50% below the legal minimun wage.

• Work instability and increased use of irregular and/or illegal work contracts: There is a high level of unstable work, because of temporary and piece work contracts used by intermediaries that contract workers for the companies.

• Excessive work days (up to 12 hours): In a majority of cases, work days on the banana plantations exceed the fixed 8 hour work day, without paying overtime.

• Persecution of unions and failure to respect the freedom to organize: Workers are afraid to organize to try to negcociate better working conditions. Additionally, persicution continues, firing or not recontracting union membors, and blacklisting these workers to ensure that they will not be hired by other plantations.

• Descrimination because of gender, age, and nationality: The average age of workers is 32 years. Workers over 40 years face descrimination and are not contracted. Women are normally assigned more rudemintary tasks, while immigrant workers are hired under conditions and salaries less than the average for national workers.

• Low education levels: The education level within the communities surrounding banana plantations is very low ( the average is below a first grade education), and there exists a high adolescent drop-out rate. Both aspects are connected to the characteristics of work on the banana plantations.

• Lack of employment options: Dynamics on banana plantations impede the development of other economic alternatives for community members, especially for women. There are few other employment alternatives, except for traditional women´s jobs including housekeeping, waitressing, retail and sales work.

Salary Conditions

According to this study, there has been a significant lowering of wages for banana workers, which has effected the conditions and quality of life for their families. A feeling of discontent exists because of current salary conditions. According to one workerr interviewed, “for two years the situation was better, there was more work; but today, they they are demanding more quality, but they have reduced the amount they pay”.

According to the results of this study, 48.5% of workers receive a salary that is below the legal minimum wage. In many cases, the lowest salaries are paid by nacional producers and on those farms that are geographically isolated. The most extreme cases of low salaries are those given to to nacional and migrant workers contracted by intermediaries to perform various short-term jobs on the plantations. Many of these workers are contracted for less than 6 days per week, confirming the serious problem of the instability of work associated with salary conditions.

According to estimations done by the Permanent Comittee of a plantation in Cariari de Pococi, real salaries are 40% of what they were in 1999. This situation entire, who are faced with a cost of living that is between 10 and 20 percent higher than that of the Central Valley of Costa Rica.

Many women banana workers are also heads of households, and low salary conditions make family life even more difficult. Regarding this theme, an evangelist minister in Batan states:

In the case of many single woman in the church, that are banana plantation workers, the situation is dramatic. The salary isn´t sufficient to pay for child care, food, or clothing.

With salaries between 30 and 40 thousand colones bi-monthly ($175 to $235), they do not earn enough to live. Definitely, these women and their families do not enjoy a level of economic stability.

Work instability

One of the most serious problems showed by this study is the extreme level of uncertanty and work instability on banana plantations. According to this study, a majority of banana workers lack stable work, and in turn the social benefits that come accompany it. On a majority of plantations, workers are hired on 3 month contracts, exempting the companies from providing employee benefits (vacations, health insurance, social security).

Regarding this method of contracting, which violates the basic principle that the right to work is a human right, a community activists in Siquirres, interviewed during this study, describes the hiring methods used by the companies:

They contract workers for 3 months, without providing worker benefits, and after this period the worker is not contracted for 15 to 30 days only later to be re-contracted for the same 3 month period.

This method of hiring is done to avoid paying the high costs of benefits, at the detrimint of workers who are permanently in a situation of employment instability.

According to the information gathered through surveys, only 18% of workers have permanent work, while 70% are contracted for temporary work (less than one year), and 12% work under verbal contracts.

During the 15 to 30 day period that workers wait to be re-contracted, some are contracted for various odd jobs on the plantations. They are contracted by non-salaried company contractors that, for their services, take a percentage of the worker´s wage. The workers, in turn, receive less pay than if they were directly hired by the company. The companies again save money with this arrangement because they do not have to pay any worker benefits. In the end, contractors and companies alike are the winners, while workers and their families remain the losers.

The instability of work is reflected in the amount of time that wokers have worked on banana plantations. Twenty-one percent have 6 months or less performing work on banana plantations, 35% have one year or less, and 48% have two years or less. Those that have more time (and permanent contracts) are the foremen, administrators, and those that specialize in fumigation.

The use of 3 month contracts is seen moret frequently on national than on transnational plantations plantations (Standard, Bandeco, Chiquita). During 1998 and 1999, transnationals recorded 75% of their workers as permanent, with only 25% contracted for 3 month periods.

Long Work Days

The eight hour work day has significantly been increased, as explained by a worker on the plantation Nueva Esperanza(New Hope) in Siquirres: “The work schedule is 6 days a week, from 5 in the morning until 6 in the afternoon. The jobs of harvesting, bagging, and tagging are from 5 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon”. This situation varies according to the contractor (nacional producer, international producer, or independent contractor).

According to the results of this study, an average of 61 hours are worked per week, with an average of 6 work days per week. The average number of hours worked per day is 10, above the legal work day of 8 hours, 6 hours for intense agricultural work.

Age Discrimination

According to this study, the average age of male workers is 32 years, 30 years for women. Many of those intervied stated that is is dificult for people over 40 years old to find work on banana plantations. A former banana worker in Batan stated, “in the case of women, work instability does not exist in the packing plants, but workers over 40 years old are not hired”.

Freedom of organizing

Persecution of unions and disrespect for the freedom of organizing is another theme reflected by this study. A majority of workers surveyed stated that they are affiliated with solidarity associtions, and that this is the primary form of worker organization promoted by both national and international banana companies.

According to those interviewed, there are no unions supported by the companies, except for in the Sixaola Valley, where 2 unions exist (UTRAL, SITRACHIRI). In most of the plantations studied, there exist Permanent Commitees, which are supported and recognized by the companies. There exists a general sentiment that the commitees are controled by the companies. One person interviewed stated that “the Permanent Committes, after negotiations, often accept what the companies offer”.

A majority of those interviewed confirmed that workers that organize to demand better working conditions are put on black lists which are exchanged between plantations to eliminate the re- hiring of these workers by other plantations. It has also occurred that after massive worker firings, in which the workers are later re-contracted with lower salaries and without benefits, that many union members are not re-contracted.

Family conditions

Because of worker instability, there is a large “floating” workforce, which impedes family development. According to a priest in the Valle de Estrella, “This situation promotes infedelity, with many children born outside of marriage or from many fathers. On top of this, alcholism is an addtitional problem”. In general, workers do not think about providing for their or their family´s future, they do not see the building of a family as a life-long commitmentt, and they do not save for the future, which results in excessive consumption and materialism. In addition, family relations have been affected by the fact that and more and more younger workers are being contracted to replace older workers, who in turn are forced to leave the region to find work.

An Evangelic minister in Batan coments: “a worker that has a workday from 5 in the morning until 7 at night, from Monday until Saturday, does not have time for his or her family. Some men live in the bachilor housing during the work week. Many men, overloaded with work, are completely absent from their families, wth women left home alone. I have cases of parishiners that come to sleep in the church and wake of at 3 in the morning for work”.

Education and Schooling

According to this study, the average number of years of schooling for banana workers is 5 ½ years. The possibilities of continuing education are dificult, because of long work days and the absence of night schools. In addition, the physical demands of work on the plantations leaves little motivation for studying after working all day long.

The situation for children of banana workers is similar. An educator at the Professional Techical High School in Batàn stated: “In this banana producing region, there is a high drop-out rate amonst students, primarity in the seventh grade. In some cases as many as 50% of those enrolled drop-out. This year (2001), of the 380 students enrolled in the seventh grode, about 150 have dropped out... It is true that we have basically surrendered to the reality of this situation. Many of our students live in diffiult economic situations and decide, or their parents decide for them, to stop attending school”.

Another reason to explain student drop-out could be the frequent change of residence, as parents are forced to change jobs, as many plantations fire their workers every 3 months.

Gender Issues

Even though this study did not dive deaply into gender issues, many important conclusions can be extracted. Results show that women primarily work in packing plants (between 30 and 40% of the workers within the packing houses are women).

While work and salary conditions are generally similar for men and women performing similar tasks, the actual situation varies becuase of the crisis. One woman worker interviewed expains the situation:” many times the salory is better for men because in packing work women perform those tasks that receive less pay”. An example of this descrimination is that when overtime hours are assigned, they are usually given to men.

Real Life Drama

The study results summerized in this article are very dramatic. The primary aspect revealed is that the impacts of the current situation are felt by every family and every person within banana producing communities. Here, people litterealy find themselves trapped in this reality, without alternatives for work or personal development, and without the ability to defend themselfes. This study did not contain any information on the reactions of those public institutions in charge of ensuring the protection of citizen´s rights, the experiences and denunciations made by workers and social organizations indicate the existence of negligence, inability, and corruption within the diffenent ministeries and responsible instutuations, making the situation even more dramatic for the lives of those in banana producing communities.

Testimonies: The harsh reality in banana producing communities*

Abelino Esquivel Quesada, Pastor of the Evangelic Church of God in Batán
Centro de Batán, Matina
Lived in the region since 1990

“This is a very critical situaton. There are many parisheners that work in the banana plantations and tell me that they do not have enough to eat. In many cases, the church has to help them. Many single women do not earn enough to provide child care, nor for food and clothing. With salaries of 30 to 40 thousand colones bi-monthly ($175 - $235), they do not have enough money to live. Definitely, these people live in economically unstable conditions.

There does not exist stability in work. Of the 80 men that attend the church, 40 work within the banana plantations, and only 2 have stable work. Workers are contracted for 2 and 3 month periods, and when not contracted, how do they live?

Additionally, there are numerous types of occupational health problems. One example, is the case of a man I know whose skin on his hand is extremely dry from exposure to chemicals. The problem is that those that are injured, even if from a small accident, can lose their jobs. Another health hazards is the aerial fumigations. The planes fly over, sometimes at 5 in the morning, others at 6, fumigating very close to houses.

A worker that has a work day from 5 in the morning until 7 at night, from Monday until Saturday, does not have time for his/her family. Some live in bachelor housing from Monday until Saturday, and only have Sundays to do other things. Many men are absent from their families because of their heavy work load, leaving the women alone in their homes. There are cases of parishioners that come to sleep in the church and wake up at 3 in the morning to work in the plantations.

The reality of the lives of workers is difficult to demonstrate in a study such as this. Many children go to work in the plantation. Others go to help their fathers with their work, when it is piece work or a contracted job. Work days are too long and exhausting to allow time and energy for studying. There is one plantation where they have formed a church, but it does not have any parishioners. The population of the community is comprised of a “floating” workforce, a factor which affects the attendance of most churches in banana producing zones. For example, one pastor’s work has been so reduced that he has to find other work to support his family”.

*This information was compiled as part of a diagnostic study about the social and labor conditions on banana plantations. The text of this testimony is a synthesis, and does not literally express what was stated by the interviewee, although relevant points have been maintained and respected.

Name: Carlos José ( ), banana worker, Nueva Esperanza (New Hope) farm, Siquirres
Has lived in the region for 6 years.

“The company lets 15 to 30 days pass before re-contracting us. During this period, some workers are contracted by intermediaries to do different jobs on the plantation. In reality, there are 22 permanent workers, primarily administrators. All others work under the 3 month contract system.

The company does not provide safety equipment. There are aprons, gloves, and boots, but only for those that do fumigation. When they fumigate, some workers don’t leave the plantations because they do not want to lose this time. I don’t remember any training courses, an Occupational Health Committee, or know if these even exist.

On the farm we cannot do anything to claim our rights, because they do not re-contract those that fight for their rights. I have heard of lists of workers that cannot be hired because of associating with unions.

There is a Solidarity Association, but only permanent workers are affiliated. More than 70% of the workers are Nicaraguan. This has been the case for about 5 years. The majority do not know their rights and cannot make denunciations.

The plantation does not have housing for its workers. Many must travel over one and a half hours to work. Many travel from Siquirres by bus, which costs about a dollar each way. There is one bus that is subsidized by the company to transport workers from Siquirres.