A week later another six joined SITRAP. Workers were threatened with being sacked and with not being able to get work on any other plantation. When the threats did not work, the company transferred some of the union members to the worst paid jobs. On 4th April, six workers were paid a full day's wage and were driven by minibus to the union offices to resign their membership. They were treated to a restaurant meal that evening by the company. Despite continuing pressure from foremen to leave the union another 4 workers joined the union on 21st April. In May and June seven workers – two of them members of the plantation committee - were sacked.

The company has also been using a sub-contracting company to employ over 4O workers, including for core banana production tasks which is not permitted in the law. Workers are often given consecutive short-term contracts every 90 days, even though s/he is working in exactly the same position in the same plantation. In this way, the workers accumulate no rights to holiday pay or thirteenth month and can be sacked without notice or severance pay.

In another of the company's farms, Finca Teresa 5, six workers who chose to join the union were transferred to jobs were they are earning barely 60% of the legal minimum wage. They suffer permanent psychological and verbal pressure to give up their membership.

Another illegal action of this company is that it has been making the deduction of union membership fees from the wages of those who have joined SITRAP, but is not passing them on to the union.

Since early April, SITRAP has sought and, in some cases, had meetings with the company's representatives, but the company has not resolved any of the outstanding issues.

SITRAP is therefore requesting supporters send letters to the National Banana Corporation CORBANA seeking their mediation in the conflict.

You are asked to write to Sr. Jorge Sauma Aguilar jsauma@corbana.co.cr and copy it to jlizano@corbana.co.cr as well as to the Labour Minister fmorales@ministrabajo.go.cr and his deputy gmatamoros@ministrabajo.go.cr
requesting that as Executive Director of  CORBANA he seeks to secure the following commitments from the company:

• that Banacol de Costa Rca S.A. Reinstates the seven workers sacked at Finca Cariari 4,
• that the cases of workers being paid less than the legal minimum wage at Cariari 4 and Teresa 5 be immediately rectified,
• that there is an immediate end to harassment of union members on all farms,
• that the union fees be handed over immediately to SITRAP,
• that the company recognise the union committee.
• and that the company stops using contractors for core production tasks on the plantation.

The union would be grateful if you could copy your letters to sitrap_2003@racsa.co.cr