18th May 2006

Banana Link has joined 73 other human rights organisations in sending a letter on May 18 to the Dole Food company, charging it with failing to respect basic workers rights, including freedom of association, the right to organise and the right to negotiate a contract.

Simultaneously, Banana Link, the IUF and COLSIBA (the Coordination of Latin American Banana Worker's Unions) and three other international organisations released a special report entitled, "Dole, Behind the Smoke Screen" documenting Dole worker rights violations in Latin America.

Banana Link, the GMB and other signers of the letter called on Dole "to make a commitment not only on paper, but also in practice" and said that they "will be evaluating Dole's response against concrete indicators...measured in terms of increased numbers of workers covered by collective bargaining agreements."

The letter follows an April 1, 2006, letter sent to Dole by COLSIBA demanding that Dole respect fundamental human rights.

Click here for a copy of the organisational sign-on letter, the signatories and the report.

Also available the press release and appendix.