Writes Banana Link’s International Coordinator, Alistair Smith
The Agricultural Plantation Workers’ Union SITRAP, located in the province of Limón on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, is an independent trade union representing plantation workers employed primarily in the banana and pineapple industries. These industries dominate the economic activity of the region, where the union estimates there are almost 30,000 hectares of banana production and over 11,500 hectares of pineapple production.
Founded in the 1970s, for the first decade of its existence, SITRAP represented almost the entirety of banana workers in the region, and had established collective bargaining agreements with all the major multinational banana companies operating locally. However, from 1982, the union came under a concerted attack. Fruit producing companies, with the support of a politically conservative section of the Catholic Church and funding from the US Embassy, succeeded in all but dismantling SITRAP and other independent trade unions. Since then, SITRAP has continued to defend the rights of banana and pineapple plantation workers in a hostile environment where an ideological crusade against the trade unions made it incredibly difficult for them to survive.
This anti-union culture permeates the nation’s banana industry and has been more recently been adopted by industrial pineapple companies that have started operations in the country. Workers who choose to join an independent trade union – and even their family members – are subject to permanent pressure to leave the organisation and over the decades, thousands have lost their jobs for organising. Nonetheless trade unions have survived and several collective agreements have been negotiated in a number of individual plantations.
Today, SITRAP defines itself as a union that is independent of governments, political parties, employers, ideological and religious conceptions, that practices democratic and participatory unionism, and strengthens the culture of dialogue, tolerance and mutual respect between people, organizations and institutions.
In the face of widespread refusal by the industry to engage in social dialogue, the union’s leadership has had to develop new models of working. SITRAP has led the struggle to defend worker’s rights by building an organisation that is relevant to families, women and young people.
Labour Day 2024 – a different day
This year, instead of mobilising its membership to attend the traditional May Day marches and rallies in the capital of San Jose, SITRAP decided to organise activities for local workers and their families.
« This 1st May we decided to commemorate the historic struggle of workers for an 8 hour day in a different way », explains SITRAP’s General Secretary Didier Leiton Valverde.
« Traditionally, along with all the other unions, we have taken part in the big national march in honour of the Chicago martyrs, where we have denounced the violations of human and labour rights that many working people face in Costa Rica. But this year we marked the occasion with the men and women workers and their children in one of the few plantations where we have been able to negotiate better conditions ».
The activity took place in the Duacari 4 plantation that belongs to Fresh Del Monte BANDECO subsidiary in Guacimo canton. The day started with a greeting to all the workers, including those from the neighbouring district of Sarapiqui where the national trade union of public and private sector employees ANEP has a growing membership. The day continued with a series of football tournaments for children, women and men with prizes, a piñata, lunch and ice-cream provided by SITRAP.
The day was organised in cooperation with the union’s branch committee in Duacari 4 and the union’s executive committee, whilst the company provided its facilities.
SITRAP’s statement went on : « This type of May Day celebration reflects SITRAP’s commitment to education and unity. By focussing on the participation of the youngest children and all their families, we are not only honouring the memory of the Chicago martyrs and calling out human rights violations in the plantations, but we’re also generating awareness and solidarity amongst the future generations. For SITRAP it is vital that children and young people understand the meaning of International Workers’ Day and the history of struggles for fair working conditions. By sharing these values and seeking the spirit of unity, the quest for better standards of living will be stronger and stronger. »
To all accounts people enjoyed themselves and the achievement of decent work in Costa Rica’s tropical fruit plantations is one step closer.
