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Have a Happy Valentine’s Day with Responsible Flowers From Colombia

February 3, 2009

             Colombian flower exports began in the 1970’s and with support of the Colombian government and international financial institutions they have grown to exceed several hundred million dollars per year. Colombia’s flower exports are the second largest in the world and reportedly constitute about 60% of the U.S. market.

 However, flower growers labor practices have undercut workers’ rights, in the following ways:

1. They often fail to pay minimum wages, overtime and benefits by using temporary employment agencies and owner-sponsored cooperatives.
2. Frequently they require workers to work long hours with little rest time, without pure drinking water, and without effective protection from harsh chemicals to which the workers are exposed.
3. They typically fail to recognize responsibility for workplace injuries, including carpal tunnel and other conditions due to repetitious movements.
4.  They have required workers to increase the number of flower beds to which they must tend from 8 in the 1970’s to more than 42 by the 1990’s.
5. They have largely refused to recognize independent labor organizations for workers and have refused to engage in collective bargaining with them.

 In addition, the proposed bilateral U.S. –Colombia Free Trade Agreement would preserve and consolidate customs preferences for the flower sector without addressing the difficulties faced by the flower industry workers.

 Join us in celebrating International Flower Worker’s Day, February 14, 2009, to

1.  Call attention to the needs of Colombian flower workers and provide support for their demands of compliance with workers’ rights to organize in unions; to work in a safe, healthy environment, and to enjoy basic benefits and fair compensation for their work;
2. Ask local florists in this country to press their suppliers to demand that the Colombian flower growers whose flowers they buy provide their workers with proper compensation and safe and environmentally sound working conditions; and
3. Write to the U.S. government officials to incorporate workers’ concerns in commercial regulations and trade agreements with Colombia. The Petition text reads as follows:

             Dear President Obama and Members of Congress:

 I the undersigned urge you to be mindful of the need to improve the working conditions of flower industry workers in Colombia as described in the attached statement when you consider a trade agreement with Colombia. Any Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Colombia should incorporate protections for workers’ health and safety; recognition of their rights to membership in independent unions and collective bargaining through those unions; a living wage, including compensation for working overtime; and environmental protections. We support fair trade, not trade which benefits employers who fail to provide proper health and safety measures and reasonable compensation for their workers in the Colombian flower industry.

Signed in solidarity with Colombian flower workers for this Valentine’s Day.

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