The contested terrain of global production: collective versus private labor governance on Guatemalan banana plantations

Abstract

Scholars have shown how the labor governance of global production transforms over time as a result of shifts in economic governance and the often contentious interactions among capital, labor, and state actors. This article adds to this research through an analysis of banana global supply chains in Guatemala in which labor governance has been shaped by an antagonistic 125-year history of predatory global production expansion and transformation, state authoritarianism and reform, and worker resistance and engagement. The article argues that, as a result of these contested processes, two dramatically distinct forms of labor governance evolved in the same country and sector with significantly different impacts on workers. On the northern Atlantic coast, a collective labor governance model developed where workers are unionized and enjoy the benefits of collective bargaining. In contrast, on the southern Pacific coast a private labor governance model based on social audits and certifications reigns that is devoid of collective and protected representation and labor conditions remain harsh. To explore this argument, this article draws on field research, an original worker survey, trade and corporate finance data analysis, and secondary historical sources.

Keywords:

• Bananas
• global value chains
• global production
• governance
• labor regimes
• CSR
• collective ­bargaining
• Guatemala

Acknowledgements

This report would not have been possible without the considerable support and insights from numerous organizations and individuals. The author is especially grateful to the survey team in Guatemala, including Pablo Quino, César Guerra, Carmen Molina, and Eduardo Juárez. The leadership team of the SITRABI union offered insightful analysis and deeply appreciated support, as did Julio Coj of Unsitragua. In Guatemala, Fresh Del Monte, Frutera Atlántica, the Ministry of Labor, researchers at Association of Investigation and Social Studies (ASIES) and the Institute of Labor Studies (INET), and the Association of Independent Banana Producers (APIB) were all generous with their time and insights. Luis Fuentes of the Guatemala office of the Solidarity Center facilitated my trip logistics and provided valuable insights on employment relations in Guatemala. Jason Boccaccio at the Solidarity Center headquarters in Washington, D.C. provided support and insights. Luis Mendoza and Matthew Fischer-Daly provided meticulous and invaluable research assistance. Alistair Smith and Tara Mathur offered detailed and crucial feedback on earlier drafts of this work. Finally, my thanks go to the Solidarity Center for its funding support, without which this research would not have been possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

The author does not have an institutional affiliation with the Solidarity Center or any other potential competing interest to declare.

Notes

1 It also includes international (e.g. inter-state) forms of regulations, such as labor clauses in trade agreements.

2 Trade unionists might be included in some programs on an advisory board with limited power.

3 For the text of the IUF-Chiquita GFA, see: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/–-ed_emp/–-ifp_skills/documents/genericdocument/wcms_189067.pdf

4 The existence of two dramatically distinct employment relations regimes within the same country has been developed by Locke in reference to northern and southern Italy (Locke, 1992).

5 This union changed its name to SITRABI in 1972 when United Fruit sold its property to the transnational Fresh Del Monte, Inc. (Cooper & Quesada, 2015).

6 More unionists were killed in Colombia, but Guatemala has a smaller population, and the per-capita killings in Guatemala have been higher (Anner, 2022).

7 Author’s calculations based on USDA data. For data source, see: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_Subject/index.php?sector=CROPS .

8 Author’s interviews, Guatemala City, February 2020.

9 Author’s interview, Del Monte representative, Morales, Guatemala, February 2020.

10 Author’s interviews, Guatemala, January-February 2020.

11 Author’s interview, SITRABI representatives, Morales, Guatemala, February 2020.

12 2018 10K Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. See: http://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001047340/c20bc78c-a4e6-4fa8-8c2c-9ae4aad19c7b.pdf

13 https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.bananera_nacional_sa.a59bc6246a2c98136fd8047436bc72f0.html

14 https://www.prensalibre.com/economia/muere-el-empresario-hugo-molina-pionero-de-la-agroindustria-de-aceites-vegetales/

15 https://grupohame.com/?lang=en

16 Author’s WhatsApp communication, Julio Coj, Unsitragua trade union center representing Chiquita workers.

17 See: https://survey.ituc-csi.org/ITUC-Global-Rights-Index.html?lang=en

18 Author’s interviews, Ministry of Labor and Luis Linares, Guatemala City, Guatemala. February 2020.

19 Author’s interview, Luis Linares, Guatemala City, Guatemala. February 4, 2020

20 The author thanks Luis Mendoza for his research assistance in gathering these data.

21 The author thanks Matthew Fischer-Daly for his research assistance on CSR programs in agriculture.

22 See: https://www.globalgap.org/uk_en/who-we-are/about-us/

23 Today, SITRABI is the oldest private sector union in the country (Cooper & Quesada, 2015).

24 Author’s interviews with UNSITRAGUA unionists, Guatemala, Atlantic coast, January-February 2020.

25 Author’s interviews, Guatemala, January-February 2020.

26 Author’s interview, Guatemala, January-February 2020.

27 The survey research and all other aspects of the field research (including stakeholder interviews) have undergone full ethical review in accordance with the requirements of Penn State and the Solidarity Center. This includes review by the Office for Research Protection of Penn State (STUDY0001346).

28 Author’s interview, Guatemala City, Guatemala. February 2020.

29 Author’s interviews with workers, Coatepeque, Guatemala. February 2020.

30 Ibid.

31 Ibid.

32 Author’s interview, Morales, Guatemala, January 2020.

33 Author’s interviews with workers, Coatepeque, Guatemala. February 2020.

34 Ibid.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Solidarity Center under PSU Grant Number: 106040.

Notes on contributors

Mark Anner

Mark Anner is a professor of labor and employment relations, and political science and the founding director of the Center for Global Workers’ Rights at Penn State. He holds a Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University and a master’s degree in Latin American Studies from Stanford University. He studied economics at the UCA in El Salvador when living Central America in the 1990s.