Long Hours and Low Wages

Plantation workers work long hours – often 10-12 hour days – in unbearable heat. To reduce costs, companies often allow very poor working conditions which can threaten the health and lives of workers. Plantation workers in Latin America can earn as little as 1% of the final price of a banana.  In Nicaragua, workers earn as little as 75 p a day; in Ecuador, between £2.50 and £4 a day. A legal minimum wage exists in all producer countries but this is often not enough for workers to afford to live properly. Workers need to earn enough money to enable them to pay for their basic needs such as housing, food, education, transport and clothing, also known as a ‘living wage’. Wages are also often only for a working day of 8 hours, but overtime is compulsory and unpaid.

No Job Security  

It is common practice on banana plantations to hire people on short-term contracts of 3 -6 months. The widespread use of the sub-contracting system, where plantation owners do not directly employ workers, means that owners deny responsibility for working conditionsWorkers on short term contracts do not have many legal rights, and these contracts can be used as a threat against those trying to organise unions. Short-term labour is easier to hire and fire. 

Read Ecuador section,  the trade union movement and Latin America to learn more about workers' rights and conditions.

Further Reading

The Working and Living Conditions of Banana Workers in Latin America by Raul Harari, Corporation for the Development of Production and the Working Environment IFA, 2005

The Real Wage Situation of Male and Female Workers in Eleven Banana Plantations in Costa Rica, in Comparison to a 'Sustainable Living Wage, ASEPROLA for Banana Link and The Cooperative Group, November 2004.

Working Conditions in Latin American Banana Plantations by Gilberth Bermúdez Umaña, 1998

Other Resources

Race to the Bottom CD-ROM
A PowerPoint presentation with photos of workers and conditions on Ecuador's banana plantations including a violent attack on workers in May 2002.
Available from Banana Link (£2.50 plus p&p).