The recent announcement that Dole will be publicly trading shares motivated the ILRF to raise concerns regarding labor rights and human rights in Dole’s supply chain.  This letter written by ILRF and signed by numerous non-profit organizations, labor unions, investment agencies and religious groups informs the company on those concerns and asks for open dialogue in developing policies, programs, and practices to address the situations described.Letter_to_Dole.pdf: 269 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

International Labor Rights Forum

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Letter to Dole Regarding Labor Rights Concerns Surrounding Initial Public Offering

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October 22, 2009 
 
David Murdock 
Chairman and CEO 
Dole Food Company 
One Dole Drive 
Westlake Village, CA 91362 
 
VIA EMAIL 
 
Dear Mr. Murdock, 
 
We are pleased to learn that Dole Food Company Inc. will soon be releasing a $500 million initial 
public equity offering (IPO). We commend you and your associates for deciding to make Dole’s 
corporate governance more transparent and accessible to the public by providing institutional 
investors and individual shareholders with the opportunity to become stakeholders in Dole’s 
policies and practices worldwide.  
We would like to take this opportunity to raise some of our human rights and labor rights 
concerns in relation to Dole’s supply chain practices in hopes of contributing to the future long-
term success of Dole as a responsible corporate actor.  In addition to our concern for those 
individuals affected by Dole’s activities, we are also concerned that alleged breaches of workers’ 
rights throughout Dole’s corporate supply chain may impact long term shareholder value.  
While Dole claims adherence to high social standards, we are concerned by credible reports such 
as “The Sour Taste of Pineapple: How an Expanding Export Industry Undermines Workers and 
Their Communities” and “A Valentine’s Day Report: Worker Justice and Basic Rights on Flower 
Plantations in Colombia and Ecuador” by the International Labor Rights Forum claiming that 
Dole has pursued management practices that subject many of Dole’s workers throughout its 
global supply chain to sub-standard working conditions.  
We are also concerned about the apparently growing use of temporary and subcontracted labor 
within Dole Food Company’s supply chain. Dole’s regular workers in the Philippines, Costa Rica 
and elsewhere are reportedly gradually being replaced by contract workers who have no direct 
employment relationship with Dole or its subsidiaries.  
 
Reports also allege that workers for Dole Foods, its subsidiaries and its suppliers are confronted 
with systematic efforts to prevent them from organizing unions or to undermine current unions so 
that they cannot bargain for better wages and working conditions. In particular, we are concerned 
by reports such as “Dole: Behind the Smokescreen” by a coalition of European NGOs including 
Peuples Solidaires and Action Aid and International Labor Rights Forum testimony regarding 
Dole Philippines’ GSP petition to the USTR alleging anti-union activity in Colombia, Costa Rica 
and the Philippines.  
 
We are also aware that there is a wrongful death suit against Dole Food Company in a California 
court alleging that the company hired the AUC to provide a number of services in Colombia, 
including allegedly murdering trade union leaders and intimidating Dole’s banana workers.  
 
Letter to David Murdock, October 22, 2009 
 2 
We commend Dole for taking some initial steps towards engaging in a constructive process to 
resolve some of these labor concerns in your supply chain. However, there is still need for Dole to 
engage in significant, proactive efforts to ensure that workers employed by Dole and its suppliers 
are able to enjoy decent working conditions and the ability to exercise their full range of rights.  
Whether or not these allegations are true, they may severely impair the long-term value of the 
company. We strongly encourage Dole to begin regular, transparent public reporting of its efforts 
to ensure that international human rights norms are respected and upheld throughout Dole’s 
global operations.  
 
As we are sure you know, responsible companies often work with members of the investment, 
NGO and labor communities to develop policies, programs and practices to address the types of 
situations we have described in this letter. As a publicly traded company, Dole will be held to the 
same levels of responsibility throughout its supply chain as other companies are held. We will be 
contacting you in the future to arrange a system of communication, cooperation and collaboration 
so that Dole will be able to address the situations described above and any others which might 
arise in the future. 
 
As socially responsible investment groups, unions and consumer-awareness organizations, we 
hope to be able to inform our members, audiences and investors that Dole is responsibly 
addressing human rights challenges throughout its operations. We hope we can contribute 
positively to the social and labor policies of Dole and partake in a constructive dialogue. 
 
We look forward to communicating further in the near future. 
 
Sincerely, 
 
Molly Anderson 
Principal 
Food Systems Integrity 
 
Bama Athreya 
Executive Director 
International Labor Rights Forum 
 
Joe Bialk 
Director of Marketing and Business Development 
Veris Wealth Partners 
 
Laura Berry 
Executive Director 
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility 
 
Judy Byron, OP 
Director 
Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment 
 
 
 
Letter to David Murdock, October 22, 2009 
 3 
Stephen Coats 
Executive Director 
U.S.-Labor Education in the Americas Project 
 
Gwen M Farry, BVM 
Sisters of Charity, BVM 
 
Maude Feral 
Director 
Peuples Solidaires (in association with ActionAid)  
 
Julie Johnson, CFA 
Fresh Pond Capital 
 
Rian Fried 
President 
Clean Yield Asset Management 
Greensboro, VT 
 
Marie J. Gaillac 
Corporate Responsibility Coordinator 
JOLT, CRI 
 
Edward Gerardo 
Director, Community and Social Investments 
Bon Secours Health System, Inc. 
 
Karen Hansen 
State Director 
Ohio Conference on Fair Trade 
 
John Harrington 
President 
Harrington Investments 
 
Katherine Hoyt 
National Co-Coordinator 
Nicaragua Network 
 
Barbara Jennings, CSJ 
Coordinator 
Midwest Coalition for Responsible Investment 
 
Patricia Jurewicz 
Associate Director 
As You Sow 
 
Letter to David Murdock, October 22, 2009 
 4 
Adam M. Kanzer, Esq. 
Managing Director & General Counsel 
Domini Social Investments LLC 
 
Erin Kliewer 
Executive Director 
STITCH 
 
Ruth Kuhn, SC 
Coordinator 
Region VI Coalition for Responsible Investment 
 
Ruth Kuhn, SC 
Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati 
Chair – SC Corporate Responsibility Committee 
 
Natasha L. Lamb 
Equity Analyst 
Trillium Asset Management 
 
Todd Larsen 
Corporate Responsibility Director 
Green America 
 
Fr. Joseph P. La Mar, M.M. 
Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers 
 
Patrick McVeigh 
President 
Reynders McVeigh Capital Management 
 
Ron Oswald 
General Secretary 
International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied 
Workers' Associations (IUF) 
 
Allison Petonic 
Chairperson of the Board of Directors 
Colombus Jobs with Justice 
 
Edith Rasell, Ph.D. 
Minister for Workplace Justice 
United Church of Christ and Justice and Witness Ministries 
 
Jeff Rechenbach 
Secretary-Treasurer 
Communication Workers of America 
 
Letter to David Murdock, October 22, 2009 
 5 
Ruth Rosenbaum, TC, PhD 
Executive Director 
CREA: Center for Reflection, Education and Action 
 
Omar Salazar  
Executive Director 
ASEPROLA 
 
Jose Schiffino 
Trade Unionists in Solidarity with Colombia 
 
Arthur Stamoulis 
Director 
Oregon Fair Trade Campaign 
 
Brian J. Stefan-Szittai 
Program Coordinator 
InterReligious Task Force on Central America 
 
Sr. Alice Talone, CBS 
President 
Sisters of Bon Secours USA 
 
Stephen Viederman 
Finance Committee 
The Christopher Reynolds Foundation 
 
Jim Vondracek 
Managing Director 
Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN) 
 
Chris Townsend 
Political Director 
United Electrical Workers Union (UE) 
 
Steve Watrous 
Chair, Milwaukee Fair Trade Coalition 
 
James E. Winkler  
General Secretary 
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society 
 
CC: Sylvain Cuperlier, Vice-President, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility 
 
 
 


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Letter to Dole Regarding Labor Rights Concerns Surrounding Initial Public Offering

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