Walmart-at-the-Crossroads-FINAL-06.04.15

largest banana brand in the United States and Japan and third biggest in Europe. Dole owns 32,300
acres of plantation in Latin America, in addition to 65,500 acres that it contracts from suppliers. As of
2012, banana sales generated just over $1 billion for Dole.
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i. Labor
In recent decades, Dole has often failed to meet Walmart’s labor code of conduct. Dole’s
alleged support for the freedom of association has been revealed as a false promise
according to the 2006-2009 Dole Smoke-screen reports written by a variety of banana activist groups.
The 2006 report described the anti-union harassment and illegal terminations that persisted in five
different banana plantations. Between 2005 and 2006, over 100 workers were fired by Dole for their
union involvement, and by 2009, none of those five plantations had a union.
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Lacking a major
workers’ rights framework agreement, Dole has, in general, had a much smaller percentage of
unionized employees than other large banana companies, such as Chiquita.
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As a result, Dole banana
workers are more likely to earn $3-5 a day rather than the higher union wages, which in some cases
reach $10 a day.
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Dole employees have also spoken out against the company’s permanent use of
temporary employees. The use of temporary workers absolves Dole from paying the benefits given
to direct employees and can limit health and safety whistleblowing and the ability of workers to
unionize.
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Enrique Gallana a banana plantation worker in Ecuador explains, “The temporary worker
that gets involved in [unionizing] already knows that he's out… Temporary workers are [hired] so as
not to have problems with unions.”
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Besides unfair labor practices, Dole, has also been known to engage in other types of illegal
activities. For example, Dole has also allegedly supported terrorist and paramilitary groups in
Colombia. While Chiquita settled for $25 million to resolve the situation outlined above, Dole has not
taken any responsibility. It appealed an initial courtroom ruling, and after a plaintiff missed a deadline,
the statute of limitations protected the company from further lawsuits.
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ii.
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