'We produce the fruit, and you eat it'

Didier Leiton Valverde, general secretary of the Union of Agricultural Plantation Workers (SITRAP), addressed delegates at UNISON local government conference today.

UNISON works alongside Didier and partners at Banana Link, an organisation campaigning for a fair, equitable and sustainable banana and pineapple trade based on environmental, social and economic sustainability.

"I'm a banana worker, and I've worked for many years in banana plantations in Costa Rica." 

Didier described how his work has put him at the forefront of the struggle for workers' rights in an industry where, he says, "the men and the women who make the choice to organise in free trade unions are treated as criminals."

"The social and the working conditions in the country are extremely damaging. Salaries are unjust, I would call them hunger wages. The working hours are ridiculously long, and there's a very high use of pesticides and other chemical inputs."

Despite these challenges, Didier described how international solidarity from UNISON has helped strengthen workers' voices. Through Banana Link and UNISON's support, workers have been able to continue organising for free trade unionism, dignified wages and dignified working conditions.

For Didier, the connection between workers in Costa Rica and trade unionists in the UK is evident: "We produce the fruit, bananas and pineapple, and you eat it." 

Didier highlighted the shared responsibility of consumers, retailers and trade unions to ensure that the fruit reaching supermarket shelves is produced with respect for human rights and environmental standards.

A key concern for him is the widespread use of pesticides in production. "Costa Rica is recognised as one of the countries with the highest pesticide use in the whole world," Didier warns, raising questions about the impact on workers, communities and consumers alike.

Working alongside UNISON and Banana Link, Didier has helped develop proposals aimed at ensuring supermarkets carry out meaningful human rights due diligence throughout their supply chains. 

He stressed that procurement policies must include the monitoring of labour rights and environmental conditions to ensure that workers' rights are not being violated in the production of the products that are being imported.

Throughout his speech, Didier returned to the importance of solidarity. "International solidarity and national solidarity are absolutely vital if we're going to have success," he says. "The continuing work of international solidarity in favour of the human rights of the people who work in the plantations is absolutely fundamental to the struggle that we share."

UNISON delegates in the conference hall stood to give Didier a standing ovation.