US Department of Labor visits Davao City

The Scenario-Setting Workshop was the second part of the project on improving the assessment of labor standards being conducted by US DOL through Verite. The goal of the project is to establish early warning signs of external factors that could cause deterioration of banana industry’s compliance to international labor standards. An analysis on the cavendish banana industry was first presented to the participants, followed by illustration of trends for the industry and labor standards cited in the study, and finally, the discernment of current and future trends that could impact the industry, particularly labor standards.

The workshop, held on December 13 at the Marco Polo Hotel, was participated by officials from the provincial and regional offices of Philippine Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Agrarian Reform, Environmental Management Bureau and Fertilizer and Pesticide
Authority; representatives from farm and banana growers cooperatives (ie FARM Coop, CFARBEMCO and DARBMUPCO); and representatives from local labor unions (ie CASMIDECO Workers’ Union-ALU, LEAD Farming Town-ALU, and NFL).

In connection to the project, US DOL representative Tanya Rasa, together with Simon Peter Gregorio of Verite and Timothy Cipullo of US Embassy Political Section visited on December 15 the plantation and packaging plant of La Frutera, Inc. in Buluan, Maguindanao. La Frutera produces and exports cavendish bananas for the US brand Chiquita. The group met with La Frutera’s plantation director Justo Santos, district manager Joseph Salvanera and human resources manager Rosemarie Sira and discussed how La Frutera obtained its rain forest certification and its other efforts to be certified internationally, particularly by ISO 14001 and Social Accountability certification (SA 8000). The group also met Datu Ibrahim “Toto” Paglas of Paglas Group of Companies, who is in partnership with La Frutera in providing employment services to the banana company.