International Flower Workers Day

Our partner in Colombia, Cactus, supports flower workers in that country. This is their message on International Flower Workers Day:

When she was 19 years old, Margarita Perez began work for Flores Arrayanes, a flower factory. She worked in the factory for six years classifying 1,000 flowers an hour. She remembers the company fondly because it was there she met her husband, but also because of the exceptional working conditions. “It was the best company I ever worked for…there I learnt what respect is, because they respected the workers and showed human kindness, it was a place where one works because they feel valued.”

But over a decade ago she started working for a different company, doing the same type of work, but under very different conditions. “I knew girls who were fired and shouted at just because they could not work overtime.” While working there, Margarita suffered a terrible spinal injury that now paralyzes half of her body. After the first operation she should have been reassigned to work that required minimal physical labour so that she could make a satisfactory recovery. But this never happened and the illness continued, becoming more severe.

Margarita is about to receive a disability allowance after four years of paperwork and lawsuits against the company, the Ministry of Social Protection and the insurance company. Her employers still owe Margarita disability salaries and compensation for the serious harm their negligence caused her.

Stories like Margarita’s inspired Cactus and other local, national and international organizations to promote International Flower Workers Day so that on 14 February, as well as Valentines, exports, roses and flower bouquets, Colombia and the world will discuss the people and realities which make flower growing possible. On 14 February, International Flower Workers Day, Margarita, like thousands of other flower workers, will receive a tribute to remind her that she is worth more that thousands of flowers.

Colombia is the world’s second largest exporter of flowers after Holland, and the primary producer for the USA. According to the Colombian Association of Flower Exporters, Asocolflores, almost 100,000 people are directly employed in the sector, and 84,000 indirectly work in the area. For these people work in flower growing represents a possibility of work in a context of unemployment and informality.

In spite of the constant political and economic support that the flower exporters receive at times of crisis, the flower workers share the losses but not the gains. The average salary in the sector is the minimum national monthly wage (about 230 USD), which is not enough to cover the basic needs of a family. Stability is constantly threatened by the changes in exchange rates, climate and demand, which last year left 6,000 workers for two companies without work.

Contracting through the Associative Work Cooperative (CTA) and other intermediaries also characterizes the offer of employment in the sector, which facilitates a failure to fulfil the minimum legal requirements and hinders the exercise of the workers union rights. In the flower-growing sector, anti-union practice not only prevails but is also hidden by the promotion of employers’ unions that fail to represent the workers rights and negotiate in the favour of business interests.

The workdays, which can be up to 20 hours, are exhausting especially leading up to Valentine’s Day. Production demands vary according to the flower variety and company, with as many as 3,000 stems to cut an hour, and between 1250 and 1500 to be classified. These demands increase the risks to the flower workers’ safety, which are physical as well as chemical and biological.

Flowers are produced in Holland, Ecuador, Israel, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Zambia amongst other countries, and recently Japan and China entered to compete in market that competes, in a race to the bottom, in terms of working conditions. For this reason, the 14th February, International Flower Workers Day, which began in Colombia, has extended to other producer and consumer countries where every year forums, discussion groups, radio programs and actions in support of the rights of flower workers are carried out.

For Margarita the fight for her rights continues and she does not hesitate in classifying work in flowers as exploitation. To international flower buyers she would say, “they are paying for the sweat of many workers. They can help to raise awareness to stop the violation of workers rights and to make the companies more responsible.”