[Date]
David H. Murdock
President and CEO
Dole Food Company, Inc.
31365 Oak Crest Drive
Westlake Village, CA 91361
Dear Mr. Murdock:
As representatives of religious, human rights, labor, women's, student and corporate responsibility groups in the U.S., Europe and Canada, we write to express our concern regarding your company's support for a European banana import program that we believe will rapidly accelerate the race to the bottom with respect to wages and working conditions for banana workers in Latin America.
We are also concerned that Dole itself may be accelerating this race to the bottom by moving operations away from countries with decent wages and benefits to Ecuador, where workers are paid poverty-level wages and receive no benefits.
As you know, the European Union's controversial "first come, first served" plan will in a few months eliminate country quotas for Latin America that have existed for years. By forcing Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama in particular to immediately compete head-to-head with Ecuador in the lucrative European Union (EU) market, the EU plan will wipe out thousands of jobs, slash wages, and cut benefits of workers throughout the region. These workers are already experiencing significant roll-backs due to the continuing crisis in the banana industry.
We are not experts in the complicated and controversial WTO dispute about EU banana import policies but we know that every banana exporting country in the region except Ecuador as well as the banana workers themselves are against the "first come, first served" plan. Even small- and medium-sized producers in Ecuador are opposed to the plan because of concerns that it will lead to further consolidation of the Ecuadoran banana industry.
"First-come, first served" is intended to serve as a transition to 2006 when a new "free market" plan comes into effect. But there will be no transition period for the thousands of banana workers in Latin America whose jobs will be wiped out overnight. Workers in the industry need a genuine transition period to ensure that there is a level playing field when the free market comes fully into effect in 2006.
Current competition with Ecuador is not fair competition based on productivity, good business practices, or a better banana. Rather, it is based on the fact that Ecuadoran banana workers are paid poverty-level wages that are a fraction of those in neighboring countries and are denied benefits that many banana workers have been able to secure in other countries, including health care, housing and schooling for their children. Environmental standards are also lower than in many other banana-exporting countries.
We know that Dole relies heavily on Ecuador, and we are not in any way suggesting that Dole or any other banana company should exit Ecuador. But it is quite another thing to support an EU plan that will greatly increase exports from Ecuador. This will destroy good jobs in other countries, while effectively rewarding Ecuador's major banana employers for the miserable conditions of their workers.
We recognize that Dole has undertaken great efforts to position itself as an industry leader with respect to corporate responsibility. We are aware, for example, that Dole is a member of the Council on Economic Priorities' Social Accountability International (SAI) which seeks to promote and monitor voluntary compliance by global companies with SAI's high labor standards.
As an affirmation of the company's expressed commitment to socially-responsible practices, we therefore urge Dole to
- withdraw its support for the "first come, first served" proposal and the immediate elimination of country quotas and instead call for a moratorium on its implementation;
- work with other countries, and companies, to develop a genuine transition plan that will not penalize socially-responsible production; and
- meet with the Coordination of Latin American Banana Worker Unions (COLSIBA) to begin discussing what steps can be taken to ensure that Dole's operations raise the floor for wages, working conditions, and respect for basic rights in Ecuador and elsewhere in the region.
Thank you for your consideration of our views.
Sincerely,
