A flyer providing information on the cut flower industry and its workers in Latin America.  Includes  suggestions for actions American consumers can take to help protect flower workers’ rights, health, and safety conditions in the industry

International Labor Rights Forum

English

DigitalCommons@ILR

About 60% of Colombian and Ecuadorean fl ower workers are women.•   They occupy the lowest paying, 
most unstable jobs. 
Discrimination is a serious problem. •  Women workers suffer particular health problems as a result of pesticide 
exposure, including miscarriages and stillbirths. Employers frequently fi re pregnant workers.  
Two-thirds of Colombian fl ower workers reportedly suffer from occupational health problems.•  
Exposure to these toxins causes headaches, nausea, impaired vision, asthma, respiratory and neurological problems, 
and congenital malformations. 
Flower workers get paid an average of $7 a day,•  the legal minimum wage, and are frequently denied 
compensation for forced overtime. This wage only covers appx. 45% of living costs.
The workweek is often 70-80 hours and up to 16 hours•  long during the high season around Valentine’s Day 
and Mother’s Day. 
The United States is a major importer of fl owers from Andean countries. • Colombia is the second-
largest fl ower exporting country after the Netherlands, and it produces 80% of the fl owers imported by the 
United States.
Floriculture employers use dirty tactics to keep•  workers from joining independent unions such as 
subcontracting and illegal fi rings. 
Subcontracted and temporary workers are denied the right to join unions•  and make up an increasing 
number of the workforce. They are exempt from receiving social, health, and maternity benefi ts. They are most 
likely to be underemployed or unemployed during an economic downturn, given their precarious positions.
Flower Workers Unions like the 
UNTRAFLORES oppose the US - 
Colombia Free Trade Agreement 
(FTA).
Poverty has increased and working and • 
health conditions worsened under current 
Andean trade preferences which already 
set up free trade for Colombian fl owers to 
enter the US. 
Nearly 2,600 trade unionists have been • 
killed in Colombia since 1986 – more than 
the rest of the world combined. Less than 
three percent of unionist murders have 
been prosecuted. 
Once we allow brutal regimes permanent • 
access to our market, we lose whatever 
leverage the US might have had to improve 
human rights.
International Labor Rights Forum
www.laborrights.org
 Addressing violations of labor rights and health   
standards in the Latin American cut fl ower industry
I L R F
Visit ILRF at www.laborrights.org, call (202) 347-4100, or write to laborrights@ilrf.org for more info.
Tell Asocolfl ores to stop spreading lies!
Asocolfl ores, the powerful Colombian Flower Growers Association has spent millions on a public relations campaign • 
making false claims such as a) Flower industry players are socially responsible and engage in sustainable business 
practices. Yet, short term contracting is the rule and these same companies are unwilling to protect workers’ right 
to organize. Women often face discrimination in the industry as they are confi ned to the lowest paid, most unstable 
positions, and they are often denied important maternity benefi ts and are forced to leave the workforce when they 
become pregnant. b) 14% of fl ower workers are unionized. In fact, most of these unions are company, or yellow 
unions such as Sinaltrafl or. These unions are established by companies in order to keep real workers unions away 
and, thus, it is false to claim that these unions represent workers. Contact Augusto Solano at comunicaciones@
ASOCOLFLORES.org and tell him to put money towards fl ower workers, not a PR campaign!
Use holidays such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day as an oppurtunity to raise awareness.  Search www.laborrights.• 
org for “Valentine’s Day Lesson Plans” to fi nd a number of ideas. 
Organize events such as brown-bag lunches on campus or in the offi ce where you can distribute information and • 
raise awareness.
Write a letter to your local supermarket or 
fl orist with the following DEMANDS
(Contact ILRF for supermarket addresses and 
sample letters).
1. Respect workers’ right to freedom of association. Don’t 
fi re workers who try to unionize.
2. Stop subcontracting out worker rights through 
“cooperatives” and temporary employment agencies.
3. Pay overtime wages, respect local laws on maximum 
hours per week, and stop using short fi xed-term contracts 
as a way to deny job security, pensions, maternity leave, and 
health and injury insurance.
4. Only use the chemicals that have been approved by the 
EPA.
5. Provide all fl ower workers with free protective gear 
and train all workers in the proper use of chemicals and risk 
prevention. 
6.  Don’t discriminate against pregnant workers.
7. Pay Workers a Living Wage
International Labor Rights Forum
www.laborrights.org
What Can You Do to Support Flower Workers?
The importance of the U.S. market gives American consumers a signifi cant opportunity to 
exert leverage on fl ower production and retail companies to encourage improvements in 
labor rights health and safety conditions in the industry.
I L R F
Tell Congress that expanding
 NAFTA to Colombia is a bad idea
Call the U.S. Capitol Today 202-224-3121 to be connected to • 
your House Representative. Then ask to get transferred to 
your Senators 
When you are connected to your representative and senators’ • 
offi ces, ask for the staffer handling trade issues. Tell him or her 
that you oppose the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. 
Tell them to support trade reform by supporting the TRADE • 
Act. Ask for your Representative and Senators’ to communi-
cate their positions in writing by email or regular mail. Use 
a local or personal story of damage from bad trade deals to 
illustrate your case or use the talking points on the back of this 
fl yer.
 
Visit ILRF at www.laborrights.org, call (202) 347-4100, or write to laborrights@ilrf.org for more info.


Fairness in flowers: Addressing violations of labor rights and health standards in the Latin American cut flower industry

A flyer providing information on the cut flower industry and its workers in Latin America.  Includes  suggestions for actions American consumers can take to help protect flower workers’ rights, health, and safety conditions in the industry.ILRF_FlowersFlyer.pdf: 124 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

eCommons (Cornell Univ.)

https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1411&amp;context=globaldocs

Fairness in flowers: Addressing violations of labor rights and health standards in the Latin American cut flower industry

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