Colombian banana workers are on strike over pay and conditions in the country’s key growing regions, causing importers to look for alternative sources.
Around 17,000 banana farm workers have gone on strike as the industry’s trade unions continued negotiations with the government.
The workers went took the action last Thursday after an initial deal was rejected, but are understood to be willing to return to the negotiating table today.
The strike has put a halt on the industry which exports around 234,000 18.14kg boxes a day.
One source told freshinfo that negotiations were “likely to continue until the end of the week”, with importers looking to countries such as Ecuador to provide a continued source of product.
The workers are based in the Apartadó, Carepa, Chigorodó and Turbo municipalities and are unhappy about their pay, which they want an 8.5 per cent rise on, and working conditions. Sintrainagro, the agricultural industry's workers' union, has warned the strike “could lead to job losses”.
Colombian president Alvaro Uribe may be asked to intervene, freshinfo understands.
Banana crops for export occupy 1.5 percent of Colombia’s permanently cultivated land, and banana production contributes with 6.3 per cent of the country’s agricultural GDP.
The industry accounts for nearly 37,000 direct jobs and 111,000 indirect jobs, in particular in the departments of Antioquia and Magdalena.
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