2023-12-05 19:13:21
Updated Tuesday, December 5, 2023 – 18:13
The German NGO has also filed an official lawsuit against the country’s main food retailers, Edeka and Rewe, for going against its Supply Chain Law.
Several unordered bananas.EMEvents. They denounce a ‘terror farm’ in Burgos: cannibalism, abuse, overcrowding, worms and pigs with tumors
Oxfam Germany has filed a complaint against the two main food retailers in the German country –Edeka y Rewe– for violating, in different ways, the labor rights of its employees in the banana plantations it has in Ecuador and Costa Rica.
After months of investigation, the German NGO found evidence and testimonies that confirmed the labor exploitation of a multitude of workers in different exploitations which also supply Aldi and Lidl. However, the latter are holding conversations with the German institution and the corresponding unions, which is why they have not been officially reported.
On the other hand, Edeka and Rewe have been reported to the responsible authority – the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) – under the Supply Chain Law that came into force at the beginning of this 2023. The BAFA could reach impose fines of up to 2% of annual turnover of the companies.
“We hope that BAFA gives the companies concrete instructions and clearly formulate requirements for prevention and corrective actions in case of human rights violations,” they say from Oxfam Germany.
Along these lines, the institution will continue reviewing compliance with this standard, as well as the actions taken by Aldi and Lidl to confirm whether they are really appropriate to structurally resolve the existing problem.
Edeka: Mara Jos and Elba farms
In the case of the Edeka supermarkets, and according to Oxfam Germany, the union ASTAC has documented complaints at two of the farms involved in a sustainable project that the company maintains with WWF.
Among the actions verified by the union include those of falsification audit, the existence of blacklists with names of people who complained about the conditions and were banned from accessing employment, as well as development of jobs under “pesticide fog”. They even collect testimonies about the dismissal of older workers “just before they were entitled to a modest pension.”
The supermarket chain, for its part, denies all accusations, in addition to having rejected a meeting proposed by the NGO and the union investigator.
Rewe and its Ecuadorian banana supplier Otisgraf
Workers at Otisgraf – affiliated with the German fruit importer Drbeck-GmbHal – claim to have had very lower salaries to minimum wages or have suffered layoffs after complaining about working conditions.
Another consequence of sharing your discomfort has been receiving insults and intimidationwhich women also suffer for simply because they are women.
As in the previous farms, the employees have also seen how sprayed pesticides from airplaneswithout having received prior notice.
The Otisgraf company was until recently certified by the Rainforest Alliance, which I withdrew the positive audit after knowing the results of the investigation by the ASTAC union. Despite having held talks with the company last August, they have not been resumed.
Now it is the turn of the BAFA Do your own research and establish guidelines so that companies correct their behaviors that go against human rights.
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