The Banana Plantations of Compostela: A History of Struggle
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Export banana plantations began in Compostela, Compostela Valley Province, in 1992. The plantations are run as growerships, in which primarily small landowners (1.5 16 hectares) enter into a contract with the company to provide a certain volume of bananas for a period of 20 years. When they began, Compostelas plantations were operated by Standard Philippine Fruit Company, or Stanfilco, the banana division of Dole in the Philippines. Packing Plants 90, 92, 95, 98, and 99 are housed in Compostela.
The first unions were built in 1992. The workers of Packing Plants 90, 92, and 95 were members of unions under the yellow federation Alliance of Labor Unions (ALU), which was replaced by the National Federation of Labor in 2000. Packing Plant 99 had an independent, management union, while the workers of Packing Plant 98 were able to establish a genuine union led by Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) in 1996.
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[...] The Banana Plantations of Compostela: A History of StruggleDavao Today, Philippines - 9 hours ago… 22, 2005 Members of Namasan withdraw their membership from PAFAMUPCO so as to establish a clear Employer-Employee relationship. FBAC management declares that … [...]
[...] The Banana Plantations of Compostela: A History of StruggleDavao Today, Philippines - 22 hours ago… Namasan is registered with the Department of Labor and Employment as a legitimate labor … in order to have the union recognized as the bargaining agent of the … [...]
The history of struggle against the banana plantations and the growership scheme started in 1991-1992. I was working with fr. Maybuena to educate people of the injustices that the plantation would cause to the people.. we were proven right. The laborers must asset their rights for it id their God-given gift and mandate! Long live the compostela workers! and onward with your struggle!
[...] Will these workers in a banana packing plant in Compostela Valley benefit from JPEPA? Some economists don’t think so. As it is, many of these workers are overworked and underpaid. Several of them, in fact, have been fired by the company. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan) [...]