Dominican banana workers union launches at national level as industry grapples with labour instability, climate change and low export volumes

Banana plantation workers and small farmers in the Dominican Republic are now representated at the national level for the first time. The National Banana Workers Union SINTRAPBAN swore in a national leadership team on 11^th July 2024 at an assembly that marks the start of a new chapter for small farmers and plantation workers in the Caribbean country. The union is based in the Northern region of Montecristi, a region which grows over half of the country’s export bananas, and ships 95% of them through the port of Manzanillo.

The launch came after the union established a new branch in the South Western region of Azua and incorporated another local banana workers’ union at the historically state-run Cruz de Manzanillo plantation.

The Dominican banana industry has a unique profile among producing countries in the Americas. Small producers make up around 70% of the growers in the country, and while larger plantations do exist, they’re small in comparison with producers in competing countries. The country was an early pioneer of Fairtrade bananas, and today 70% of the bananas produced in the country are certified Fairtrade. In addition, 85% are certified organic. Meanwhile, around 80% of hired labour on Dominican farms and plantations are Haitian migrant workers. Balancing the needs of these two key groups – small farmers and migrant workers – is central to the mission of SINTRAPBAN.

The launch of the national union comes at a critical time for the Dominican industry. Small farmers are struggling to hold on to their livelihoods as they grapple with increasing climate volatility and, they say, the increasing costs and demands of ‘over-certification’.

 

Meanwhile, the issue of labour instability requires urgent and thoughtful action. The Haitian workforce is indispensable to the industry. However, the workforce has been subject to indiscriminate deportations and an increasingly hostile environment. While many Dominicans, including small farmers whose livelihoods are closely linked to the wellbeing of their workers, are known to treat their Haitian colleagues fairly, there have been widespread reports of mistreatment of migrants by the authorities charged with deporting them, leading to the condemnation of deportation practices by international NGOs. Against this backdrop, the industry has seen its exports halved in just a few years.  

While there seems to be an industry-wide consensus that government action is required to tackle labour instability and protect the reputation of the Dominican Republic’s export industry, the details are yet to be ironed out. A migration roundtable established to tackle the issue of migration regularisation with the participation of key stakeholders has been inactive since the disputed construction of a canal close to the border heightened tensions between the two countries in 2023. The issue is complex: while many Haitian migrants have expired permissions to live and work in the Dominican Republic that could be renewed, there are those without any documentation at all – either from their host country, or from Haiti itself.

Retailers in Europe are increasingly aware of reputational risk and are increasingly being held accountable for the protection of workers and the environment in their supply chains by new corporate sustainability due diligence legislation. Given that the European market is far and away the largest export destination for Dominican bananas, accounting for around 95% of banana exports, it’s crucial that stakeholders collaborate to find new solutions for a longstanding problem. (A previous attempt to regularise workers in 2016 ultimately led to an exodus of workers to other sectors). While it is true that migrant workers are in a better position due to the dominance of Fairtrade certification in the Dominican Republic – which ensures that workers have access to private healthcare coverage – without regular immigration status, workers cannot open a bank account and are constantly at risk of deportation.

The union is working in close partnership with businesses, producers’ associations, migrant rights NGOs, church leaders and the federation to whom it is affiliated – the Confederation of Autonomous Class-Based Unions (CASC), founded in 1962 and based on Christian humanist values – to work towards creating the conditions for an industry where migrant workers are protected from deportation raids and enjoy the same quality of life as their Dominican colleagues, and where the industry can count on a stable and secure workforce.