Leading grower and exporter associations issue formal response, arguing report overlooks country’s recent progress
Ecuador’s banana export industry has hit back at suggestions that workers face a “a stark and worsening global crisis” which will see their rights seriously eroded around the world.
In response to assertions made by lobby group Banana Link, which cited a new Global Rights Index report published in early June by the International Trade Union Confederation, several of the country’s grower and exporter associations said they refuted the report’s placement of Ecuador in the top ten worst countries for workers.
“We, as representatives of this industry are deeply concerned by this assertion as this report covers several matters and misrepresents the reality of the banana industry,” said José Hidalgo, executive director of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE), in a letter to Fruitnet.
“Additionally, all the information and news from the referenced links [in the report] are from previous decades, not being representative of the developments of the Ecuadorian banana industry.”
According to the groups, Ecuador’s banana industry has made “great efforts” and achieved “major results” in various areas of the business, specifically to eradicate child labour, secure a living wage for workers, improve health and safety, and guarantee freedom of association.
Read the full response here: Ecuador’s banana industry rejects report on workers’ rights
