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Date Added to
Site: 24th July 2006 |
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Short Summary
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| Title |
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Latin
America. Chiquita, Women Banana Workers and Structural Inequalities
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| Author |
Prieto-Carron, M. |
| Publication
Date |
March 2006 |
| Publisher |
University of Bristol, UK |
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Short Summary |
How can multilateral companies improve labour
conditions for women workers? This paper focuses on the multinational
Chiquita, and on its sourcing of bananas from Latin America. Over
the last decade, Chiquita has taken a number of steps to rectify a
bad public image and has improved its ethical performance through
the development of a comprehensive CSR policy. One important aspect
of this policy is its voluntary code of conduct which company-owned
plantations and independent producers must implement. With regard
to gender issues the Chiquita code does address a number of important
factors such as forbidding all forms of sexual harassment. However,
it makes no reference to promotion of women, nor to maternity rights
and childcare. In focus group discussions, Nicaraguan women banana
workers reported all kinds of labour rights violations: low remuneration,
short contracts, long hours, and obstacles to freedom of association.
This paper makes several recommendations. For example, sexual harassment
could be addressed by employing more women in supervisory and management
roles, by creating opportunities for women to safely report incidents,
and by adopting a zero tolerance policy towards perpetrators. Companies
could also work creatively with women and men workers to find ways
of providing convenient and affordable childcare facilities (and breastfeeding
breaks). Ensuring that both female and male staff have access to appropriate
information is the first step in ensuring that maternity rights are
respected, that female staff are not questioned about or tested for
pregnancy, and that adequate provisions are made to ensure that pregnant
workers receive their legal benefits. All these practical measures,
together with others, would help to challenge gender structural inequalities
and must be part of any CSR policy. |
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