ILA longshore workers and community supporters are protesting the loss of good jobs because of the actions of Fresh Del Monte Produce.
As many as 300 jobs that supported union families for 22 years in the Philadelphia area suddenly disappeared last summer when Fresh Del Monte Produce stopped using ILA union workers to unload pineapples, bananas and other fresh fruit at a New Jersey port across from Philadelphia. Del Monte decided to go with a cut-rate outfit that pays non-ILA dockworkers as little as $10.50 an hour with few benefits.
Wildcat strike shuts New York ports in September
ILA longshore workers on the East Coast responded to Del Monte’s attack on good jobs with a wildcat strike on September 28-29 that shut the largest ports on the eastern seaboard for two days. Philadelphia area ILA members triggered the shutdown by extending picket lines from local docks to the massive ports of New York and New Jersey where workers defied a federal court order for almost 24 hours that called on employees to end the strike and resume work. The September job action marked the first East Coast port shutdown since 1977.
A second day of action in November
On Monday, November 22, “Jobs with Justice” and other community groups organized four “pineapple protests” against the giant fresh fruit importer.
Hundreds rallied in downtown Philadelphia where they stopped traffic and marched around City Hall. Protestors swarmed around a small downtown “WaWa” grocery store, providing flyers to customers that explained how Del Monte was destroying good jobs in the community.
Simultaneous actions also took place at the corporate headquarters for Fresh Del Monte Products in Coral Gables, Florida. Informational picket lines appeared at Del Monte’s import hubs at Port Manatee, Florida and Galveston, Texas.
Del Monte’s appetite for concessions is enormous
New Jersey State officials tried to persuade Fresh Del Monte to remain at the ILA-staffed port by offering the company huge public incentives that included:
- $25 million in taxpayer-funded infrastructure improvements.
- Access to free public-owned land.
- Slashing Del Monte’s utility bil in half from $1.3 million to $700,000.
On top of the subsidies from tax- payers, union members offered their own package of concessions amount- ing to a 25% reduction in labor costs worth $5 million. ILA Local 1291 members had already been giving Del Monte one of the lowest-cost pension plans in the industry and workers had gone 19 years without a wage increase.
Workers sacrifice while execs still get big bucks
Concessions and austerity measures don’t seem to apply to Fresh Del Monte’s CEO Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh. He collected over $4 million in compensation in 2009.
Company propaganda paints a pretty picture
Fresh Del Monte’s official website is filled with sweet-sounding talk about “sustainability” and the corporation’s deep concern for people and the environment. Like an oil company trying to burnish their image after a big spill, Fresh Del Monte Produce wants the world to know how wonderful they are:
“Our strict labor policies and practices ensure a hygienic and safe working environment. All our employees are guaranteed safe working conditions and their rights stemming from international conventions and local laws including freedom of association, are respected. As in the case of environ- mental policies, strict adherence to our labor and social programs and policies is monitored and validated by frequent internal and external audits.”
Pesticide poisoning in Central America
But the company website doesn’t mention a long history of worker and environmental abuse that includes an ugly episode during the 1970s and 80s when banana workers in Central America were exposed to DBCP, a powerful pesticide that causes sterility, possible cancer and groundwater contamination.
Retaliation against African workers
As the Dispatcher goes to press, Fresh Del Monte workers in Kenya reported that the company is retaliating against 40 union leaders who joined with 1,700 employees in an October 12 walk-out to protest unpaid allowances, use of temporary employees and dangerous working conditions that may have been responsible for a worker’s death on the job.
Del Monte got a court injunction on October 13 ordering the Kenyan employees back to work, but workers who showed up were told to re-apply for their jobs, so the strike continued for another six days. When workers finally returned, the company then fired 40 employees who were union leaders in the plant. So far, Del Monte has refused to re-hire the union leaders.
ILWU sends solidarity letters and urges boycott support
On November 17, 2010, ILWU International President Bob McEllrath sent a solidarity memo to all ILWU locals and affiliates, asking local leaders to inform members about the Del Monte dispute and encouraging sup- port for the ILA boycott of Fresh Del Monte Produce. McEllrath also sent a letter the same day addressed to ILA President Richard Hughes: “I want you to know that you have the full backing of the ILWU in your dispute with Del Monte and that we stand in solidarity with you. The letter concluded: “You can rest assured that we will take all possible measures to support you and your members.”
Video of ILA protest in Philly
see Fresh Del Monte’s corporate spin and greenwashing:
http://www.freshdelmonte. com/sustainability-social.aspx