The trade union ‘Initiative Grüne Gewerke’ (IGG FAU) condemns the actions of the Chiquita company in Panama, where almost 5,000 workers were dismissed following a strike. The workers, along with many other employees in the country, had protested against stricter pension legislation, the US military presence, the expropriation of indigenous people and the reopening of an environmentally damaging copper mine. The IGG is calling on all consumers to reconsider buying Chiquita products.
Agricultural, horticultural and forestry workers from the IGG trade union initiative are showing solidarity with the Panamanian trade union Sitraibana. The union, together with workers from the construction sector in particular, had taken a stand against various government projects, above all a significant deterioration in pension legislation. The plantation workers did not stop protesting even when they were offered a special arrangement by the government; instead, they remained in solidarity with the rest of the population. Chiquita responded by dismissing almost all of its employees and relocating its local headquarters to Costa Rica.
Chiquita has a long history of supporting dictatorships, paramilitaries and the murder and repression of trade unionists. One of the reasons why the workers on the banana plantations are fighting so doggedly against an increase in the retirement age is that their life expectancy is significantly lower than that of the average population in Panama (which is already 3-5 years lower than in Germany) due to the company’s high use of pesticides.
The IGG trade union initiative founded in 2022 shows solidarity with the plantation workers’ struggle and also sees its establishment as a starting signal for a new, international solidarity between German agricultural workers and their colleagues worldwide.