After the announcement of the sale of Fyffes, Unions and industry groups including GMB, Britain’s General Union; IUF, the International Union of Foodworkers and Banana Link have announced plans to protest at an extraordinary general meeting for shareholders of the company next Monday in Dublin, Ireland.
The planned protest comes ahead of Fyffes' sale to Japan's Sumitomo Corporation.
A statement issued by GMB calls on the banana firm to address a number of issues, including allegations that the company has 'sacked and blacklisted' individuals for joining trade unions in both Costa Rica and Honduras, and 'stolen' from employees in the 'shape of unpaid wages, holiday entitlement, education grants and social security contributions'.
“Fyffes must take responsibility for ensuring that their local managements in Costa Rica and Honduras recognise and enter into good faith negotiations with local unions and that company-wide freedom of association and collective bargaining is respected at every level," commented IUF General Secretary, Ron Oswald.
In response to the unions' announcement, a Fyffes spokesperson told ESM, "The Ethical Trading Initiative is currently overseeing a process looking into these matters, so this action is a purely opportunistic move by the unions concerned. Unlike them, we intend to respect the process and have no further comment to make at this stage."
