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Viewing cable 09BOGOTA3301, FLOWER UNION WITHERS AFTER LABOR DISPUTE

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09BOGOTA3301 2009-11-03 16:42 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Bogota
VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #3301/01 3071643
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 031642Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0582
INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RHMFISS/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUCNFB/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0142
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0472
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 003301 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
USTR FOR EISSENSTAT AND HARMAN 
DOL FOR ZOLLNER AND QUINTANA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/03 
TAGS: ELAB EAID ETRD PGOV PHUM PREL USTR LAB CO
SUBJECT: FLOWER UNION WITHERS AFTER LABOR DISPUTE 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Mark A. Wells, Political Counselor; REASON: 1.4(B), 
(D) 
 
SUMMARY 
 
------- 
 
1. (C) A labor dispute at a bankrupt flower farm is a case of 
lose-lose negotiating in Colombia.  When workers occupied the 
Benilda, S.A. plantation in September to protest unpaid benefits, 
the company went into bankruptcy.  The owner claimed he was 
hamstrung by high labor costs and currency appreciation, but the 
union and local authorities said he had in fact transferred Benilda 
assets to other companies he secretly owned that do not employ 
union workers.  Workers will receive severances in two to three 
years through a liquidation process, but will face difficulty 
finding new jobs in Colombia's flat economy.  Meanwhile, the union 
has lost most of its members, effectively ceasing to exist.  End 
Summary. 
 
 
 
WORKERS DEMAND THEIR BENEFITS 
 
----------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) The National Union of Flower Workers (UNTRAFLORES) 
President Aide Silva and Legal Advisor Alejandro Torres told us 
that Benilda had not paid into workers' pension funds since October 
2008, nor had it paid health benefits and payroll taxes since April 
2009, despite withholding these funds from workers' paychecks. 
UNTRAFLORES made numerous appeals to the Ministry of Social 
Protection (MPS), which resulted in sanctions but no change in the 
company's accounting practices.  Silva explained that the union was 
left with no option but to occupy the Benilda plantation in protest 
on September 7. 
 
 
 
PESO REVALUATION HAS HIT THE INDUSTRY HARD 
 
------------------------------------------ 
 
3. (SBU) Benilda owner Carlos Mejia blamed high labor costs and 
peso appreciation for his company's failure to keep up with 
benefits payments.  He said his unionized workers (500 of 1300) 
earned 40% more than his short-term contractors, who worked for the 
minimum wage and more modest benefits.  He told us Benilda could 
not afford to pay salaries that were higher than the industry 
average, especially in the prevailing economy.  The growing 
strength of the Colombian peso against the dollar had dramatically 
reduced sector-wide revenue, leading to fierce competition with 
companies that contracted most of their labor.  (Note:  Producers 
receive dollars for exported flowers but pay wages in pesos, such 
that their costs effectively increase whenever the peso 
appreciates.  End Note.) 
 
 
 
4. (SBU) The Association of Colombian Flower Exporters 
(ASOCOLFLORES) President Augusto Solana confirmed that the 
strengthening peso has contributed to a 63% increase in sector-wide 
labor costs since 2005.  The monthly dollar earnings of a 
minimum-wage worker equated to $265 at 2,322 pesos to the dollar in 
2005, compared to $431 a month at 1890 pesos to the dollar in 2009. 
While producers have identified ways to cut costs and increase 
productivity, the potential gains have been limited because labor 
accounts for 60-70% of overhead, Solana said.  Consequently, there 
is tremendous pressure on producers to shed high-wage workers. 
 
 
 
BOTH SIDES POINT THE FINGER 
 
--------------------------- 
 
5. (SBU) The union claimed that Mejia used the economic problems of 
the industry as an excuse to squeeze concessions out of union 
workers or replace them with low-cost contractors.  They alleged 
that he surreptitiously transferred assets, including employee 
withholdings and $500,000 from an employee credit union fund, to 
other plantations that he secretly owned.  For example, Silva 
showed us a tarp fence demarcating a boundary between Benilda and 
an adjacent plantation, Copa Flowers.  She said the fence did not 
exist prior to June 2009, nor did Copa Flowers.  Workers wearing 
Benilda uniforms worked on both sides and Copa Flowers workers were 
former Benilda contractors.  She also pointed out that Benilda and 
Copa Flowers shared electricity and water systems. 
 
 
 
6. (SBU) Mejia denied the union's allegations and offered a rival 
theory.  He claimed that UNTRAFLORES leaders stood to make a lot of 
money by forcing Benilda into bankruptcy.  In exchange for securing 
favorable severance packages, workers would allot UNTRAFLORES 20% 
of the bankruptcy payout obtained through liquidating the company's 
assets, estimated at $3.5 million. 
 
 
 
AUTHORITIES SUSPECT UNDER-THE-TABLE DEALS 
 
----------------------------------------- 
 
7. (C) Local MPS official Nancy Pelido and Madrid Mayor Diego 
Sicardo sided with the union account of events in telling us that 
Mejia was likely the unofficial owner of Copa Flowers and had 
stakes in other nearby plantations, though there were no documents 
to prove it.  Sicardo suspected that Mejia, rather than sell 
Benilda "because no one would buy a flower company that had 
unions," illegally transferred his assets into Copa Flowers. 
Pelido and Sicardo doubted that UNTRAFLORES had negotiated a deal 
with workers to get a cut of the bankruptcy settlement. 
 
 
 
NEGOTIATIONS END IN BANKRUPTCY, DEMISE OF UNION 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
8. (SBU) During negotiations hosted by MPS Vice Minister of Labor 
Ricardo Echeverri, Mejia argued that a new collective bargaining 
agreement with minimum-wage salaries (a 15% pay cut) was the only 
way to preclude bankruptcy and preserve workers' jobs.  UNTRAFLORES 
insisted that Benilda fulfill its current collective bargaining 
agreement even if it meant declaring bankruptcy and liquidating 
company assets.  MPS officials tried to reconcile the parties in 
the interest of preserving jobs, but finally approved bankruptcy 
proceedings when neither side would budge.  Authorities will 
appoint a government liquidator who will oversee the process, which 
will take an estimated two or three years. 
 
 
 
9. (SBU) The union leaders told us that management was determined 
to escape collective bargaining at all costs.  Hence, they 
concluded that their last resort was to seek adequate severance 
packages for workers.  Most UNTRAFLORES members had been with the 
company for 10-20 years or more.  They will each receive severance 
packages of about $5,000 dollars, based on seniority.  One point on 
which everyone cited above agreed was that the workers would be 
blacklisted from the flower industry for their role in bringing 
down Benilda.  In Colombia's sluggish economy, it is likely that 
these formerly unionized workers will have to seek work in the 
informal sector.  UNTRAFLORES leaders predicted that, left with no 
employer, members or contract, the union would close up shop. 
BROWNFIELD