Tulips, sunflowers or petunias. Everyone agrees that flowers are beautiful and that their natural beauty and sweet smells evoke a wide spectrum of sentiments. Have you ever asked where the flowers you admire come from? Guatemala is one of the major flower producers for the European market. Did you ever wonder about the conditions that workers have to face to produce such flowers? The Guatemalan flower production industry is one of the largest employers in the country. Ceadel director Jose Gabriel Zelada Ortiz spoke about this reality during the workshop Flower Power organised by Koperattiva Kummerc Gust (KKG) last Monday.

Founded in April 1998, Ceadel in Chimaltenango, Guatemala, was created with a mandate to improve working and living conditions for marginalised groups such as children, adolescents, youth, and female workers.

Over the years, Ceadel has developed a special focus on child labour, adolescent labour and female workers, both in non-traditional agricultural sectors and in the maquilas. The organisation also works to address the problem of youth gangs.

One of CEADEL’s recent research initiatives, supported by the Interntional Labour Rrights Forum (ILRF), has led the organisation to meet with various governmental institutions and private initiatives to gain information about the flower producing industry and the specific companies who have exporting rights in this sector.

Some of these include the association of non-traditional exporting firms (AGEXPORT), the Agriculture Ministry, the Economy Ministry, the Superintendencia de Administración Tributaria (SAT), a national tax agency and the labor inspectorate. In conducting this research, CEADEL has also met with the different stakeholders and interviewed farm workers to obtain testimonies.

CEADEL’s research findings indicates that there have been notable improvements in the flower industry since the organisation’s 2004 study of the flower industry. However, companies continue to persist in violating workers’ rights, through low pay and denial of adequate compensation amongst others. Similarly, workers lack basic information about the law, and their entitlements and rights, and women in particular lack knowledge about maternity rights.

KKG is raising awareness about the flower industry and in particular about fair working conditions in flower farms in Latin America. The flowers industry in Guatemala is mainly found in the Sacatepéquez and Chimaltenago y Jalapa regions.

The industry has been existing for only 30 years, after the breakdown of traditional products such as coffee and sugar cane, even though in the recent years these sectors have experienced a relevant upturn.

While the flower trade is flourishing, the workers of the flower plantations in Latin America, Africa and Asia, the majority of whom are women, are not. 

“They work from morning to night for a pittance and have their health at risk because often, the protective clothing against pesticides and fertilizers, is inadequate. Moreover, the right to join trade unions is not granted to workers in many countries and companies,” KKG and I Shop Fair network spokesperson, Mahira Sheikh Mifsud, explained.

Mr Ortiz is currently raising awareness about the flowers industry in different European countries including Malta through the I Shop Fair project being coordinated by Koperattiva Kummerċ Ġust. He spoke about the inhumane working conditions in the Guatemalan flower industry.

Labour law expert Mr Ortiz has put his country in the limelight and has spoken for many workers. He claims that in the flowers industry, poor wages, lack of protective clothing and sexual harassment by superiors is common.

“As consumers, we understand that companies may import flowers and therefore we would like to see flowers which respect workers’ rights in the supply chain of production. We support Fair Trade and it would definitely be worth it for companies to start selling fair trade flowers. There are various reasons including workers’ rights such as a fair pay, transparency, availability of health and safety equipment and moreover a social premium that helps in the capacity building of the local communities from where the flowers are grown. This leads to a more just world and contributes to the eradication of poverty,” Ms Sheikh Mifsud explained.

Study results

The research involved carrying interviews with flower producers working in ten of the main flower producing companies in Guatemala.

Flower production, including that of foliage plants, is the fourth most important exporting sector, creating some 15,000 permanent jobs. Freshly cut flower sales is growing by around 15% yearly.

Most of the employees, who work on the industry’s front line are women. The country which buys most Guatemalan flowers is the Netherlands followed by the United States and Germany. According to the information compiled by AGEXPORT, responsible for non-traditional exports in Guatemala, 42% of the exports go to the Netherlands while 8% go to Germany.

International Corporations such as Paul Ecke, North Cafe, Bella Vista, Multicrops, Monticello or Prima Rosa settled in Guatemala to supply several species of flowers to the local, Central American, Northern American, Japanese and European markets.

Although the turnover of exports has increased significantly, the incomes from such exports have been reduced due to the decrease of market prices and the variation of the Dollar against the Euro and the Quetzal.

Ceadel’s research has revealed that at least two flower producers in Guatemala employ underage workers aged between 14 and 17 years. Ceadel feels that there has been positive development with regards to the employment of minors. The study results show the trend decreased drastically when they were compared with the results of another study held in 2004.

Since employees are slowly becoming more well-educated, they prefer not be organised within unions and therefore have become less demanding about their workers’ rights and wages. However, 50% of the interviewees didn’t accomplish primary school education so they scarcely know about their labour rights.

Freedom of association is not recognised, even though it is established by the Guatemalan Constitution and by other international instruments signed and ratified by the country. Furthermore, there are no trade unions involved in the flowers sector throughout the country since workers are afraid that if they form one, they would be dismissed or put in the blacklist, which means that in turn it will be very hard to find another job. Besides, the organisational and protest culture is very weak and the trade unions are going through a difficult time.

According to the interviews with the workers, four of the ten companies pay a minimum salary with 1587 Quetzales or around €150 monthly. This minimum salary is calculated as follows 44.58 Quetzales or around €44 per day and in addition 250 Quetzales, around €25, as a monthly bonus according to local law.

Six of the companies studied, pay the workers less than minimum wage. 77 % of the interviewees reported they had a social security card while 18% do not have one and 5% refused to answer the question. This shows that social security is not always paid, compromising the employees’ long term financial stability.

Personnel who are under 30 years of age, especially women are preferred over other candidates applying for jobs in the flower industry. They are favoured because in about 80% of the cases, their fine motor skills are usually better.

The study has also shown that there is a lack of awareness about occupational health and safety measures among the employees. Occupational health and safety is not just about having restrooms and designated areas were they can take their breaks or about having the right protective clothing.

Workers’ health conditions are not a priority for the companies in the flowers industry, and not because harmful consequences are unknown, but because of the importance given to the yield of the harvest. Workers have to deal with harmful chemical products, such as organophosphates (e.g. Malation), or with waste materials without any safe management conditions. Also, the flower companies of Chimaltenango and Jalapa do not supply the proper equipment for stores.

The research revealed that pesticide sprayers still carry out their work without any protective equipment, exposing them to toxins posing various health risks. The same toxins are present on other equipment that comes in contact with the pesticide. The toxins are also present on packaging material such as containers or canisters and therefore are inevitably passed on to third parties without any warnings.

The main health problems employees complain about are headaches especially due to working stress arising from pressuring employees to carry out work a very short time frame.

Furthermore, many workers suffer from legs, waist and back pain since depending on the the production line, they spend long periods standing or crouching down.

A Free Trade Agreement with the United States did not result in the improvement of working conditions, though in the labor chapter of the agreement it is established that disciplinary measures will be taken if it is proven that there are working abuses. So far, it has been impossible to report a case. With regards to the Association Agreements with the European Union, conditions are even exploitative since no parameters concerning labor rights are established.