NEW! TransFair USA Launches Fair Trade Flowers

Luz Chancusig, Jardines Paiveri

In the mountainous region of Cotopaxi, a predominantly indigenous area of Ecuador, over 80 flower farms employ 15,000 workers.  The 24-year old flower industry is booming, making cut flowers the third largest export for Ecuador, topped only by oil & bananas.  However, the labor practices used in cultivating stems and bouquets for North American and European consumers are far less pleasant than their final product. 

Flower workers, the majority of whom are women, experience unjust working conditions; they face exposure to agrochemicals, sexual harassment, employment insecurity, uncompensated overtime, and unlivable wages on a regular basis.  Many conventional flower farms do not require the greenhouse to be shut down while fumigating nor do they provide protective gear to the workers, with no exception for those who are pregnant; female workers exposed to these chemicals have demonstrated dramatic side effects like cancer and birth defects. 

One solution that directly addresses many of the difficult social and environmental issues associated with flower production is Fair Trade certification.  Fair Trade Certified™ flowers guarantee that flower workers not only receive fair wages and benefits such as childcare, paid maternity, vacation and sick leave, but also a social premium of 8% of each sale to invest in community development.  In addition, Fair Trade flower workers are given protective gear and training on safe handling of agrochemicals. 

Jardines Paiveri, a 130 worker flower farm in Cotopaxi, is one farm that is feeling the effects of Fair Trade.  In a region replete with flower farms and flower workers, many of the workers at Jardines Paivieri experienced the hardships associated with flower production when previously working on conventional farms.  Now, however, these workers see a clear difference.  The salary for workers at Jardines Paiveri is 21% higher than at neighboring farms.  While turnover rate at neighboring farms is as high as 20% per month, the turnover rate at Jardines Paiveri is 4% per year. 

After becoming Fair Trade certified, workers at Jardines Paiveri formed various committees to implement rigorous social standards on the farm.  The Joint Body manages the financial funds generated by the Fair Trade premium, while the Workers Committee deals directly with the workers to understand their needs and to aid communication between the farm managers and the workers.  Together, these bodies develop social projects that are voted for democratically by the General Assembly, a gathering of all workers.

When Jardines Paiveri received a social premium of $5,000 last year, the General Assembly chose to spend the money on projects the workers wanted most.  Now there is free childcare and a doctor on the farm.  The workers can access loans, with which workers have started small businesses and purchased materials to improve their homes.  There is a new computer center with free computer courses for workers and their children.  The Joint Body set up a fund for scholarships, which helps workers and their children pursue their educational aspirations.  The workers attest that the Fair Trade premium has gone beyond the farm: the effects permeate their personal lives and benefit their families and community.

Fair Trade has not only given unskilled workers the opportunity to learn how to organize democratically, but also provided opportunities to receive the necessary training in accounting and project management.  This process supports workers as they go from simple wage earners to become project managers, development workers and accountants.  And while these positions are traditionally held by men, all supervisors at Jardines Paiveri are female, providing them with leadership opportunities usually unavailable to women on flower farms.  Women’s leadership is not only a source of empowerment, but also benefits the largely female workforce; workers report feeling more comfortable approaching women in leadership.

28 year old Luz Chancusig has worked at Jardines Paiveri for 10 years.  She is now a Post Harvest Representative and Secretary of the Joint Body.

“As the Secretary of the Joint Body, I feel very proud because I can see that my coworkers are confident in me… It’s a very important job…  I have learned many things, and I think that having a leadership position may help me, help my community, and maybe I can help my children.
                  --Luz Chancusig

Many benefits have reached the flower workers at Jardines Paiveri.  However, the workers share the opinion that there is a strong need to increase the number of Fair Trade consumers.  Currently, the farm sells only 7 to 10 percent of their flowers under Fair Trade terms, and of the 80 flower farms in Cotopaxi, only four are Fair Trade Certified. 

“…If we could increase Fair Trade sales, we workers would have greater profits, and we could develop all of the social projects we have in mind, and help all of the families in the region.   We could offer the poorest families not only five dollars during Christmas time, but more; we could buy them clothing.  We could obtain a higher level of loans, to be able to buy a parcel of land, to improve our homes, and to start a small business.”   
                  --Luz Chancusig

Article written by Suzanne Allcroft, Development Intern Summer 2007