Building solidarity along banana supply chains

The Union to Union programme builds solidarity links between Latin American and West African trade unions, at one end of international banana supply chains, and British trade unionists at the other.  Banana Link works with eight banana workers' trade unions in Latin America - Nicaragua, Peru, Honduras, Ecuador, Guatemala and Costa Rica - and has since 2008 begun working with an agricultural workers’ union in Ghana in West Africa.

A ‘Race to the Bottom’ is being pursued in the banana industry, as companies seek ever ‘cheaper’ bananas, resulting in lowering social and environmental standards for the hundreds of thousands of workers producing the bananas sold on our supermarket shelves.

In Latin America, banana workers face appalling working conditions, including wages well below the cost of living and exposure to toxic chemicals. Workers who try to join unions face repression - from daily psychological pressure to outright violence. Though unions are better respected in West Africa, increasing expansion by multinational fruit companies throughout the region is exposing workers and their communities to many of the same risks.

The Union to Union programme facilitates the sharing of experience and knowledge between our Latin American and West African partners to support constructive dialogue with common multinational employers and the training and education of workers, especially with regard to health and safety.

Through the programme, banana workers’ trade unions are organising and training workers on the ground, whilst lobbying for changes to labour laws, company practices and trade rules at national and international level.

Banana Link and our union partners work closely with the International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers (IUF) and British trade unions to increase the impact of solidarity activities.

Other Links

Click here to read Linking Up Each Others' Struggles article.

Click here to read the latest News From the Banana Front Union to Union bulletin.

Click here to find out how to get involved in the Union to Union programme.

For more details please contact Banana Link.