UK-based trade union GMB has accused banana firm Fyffes of sacking staff for being part of a trade union.
According to the union, 'security staff on Fyffes’ melon plantations in Honduras were sacked on February 16, supposedly because of “restructuring”'.
“Fyffes have ended as they started – sacking workers who dared to stand up to the vicious exploitation of their employer by forming a union," claimed GMB International Officer, Bert Schouwenburg.
The GMB is attending a EUROBAN (European banana action and agribusiness network) meeting in Bologna, Italy this week, to discuss the future plans for the banana group under new management.
Schouwenburg added that the union is "encouraged by the words of Sumitomo’s Ted Eguchi that things need to change and will be seeking an early meeting with him to find out exactly what that means."
Fyffes delisted from the Dublin and London stock exchanges yesterday, following the company's takeover by Japanese firm Sumitomo. On Friday, Takashi Yamana, Takayuki Seishima, Bin Haga, Tetsu Eguchi and Yoshikatsu Nakamura were named as the new directors of the company.
Last month, in response to union claims about unfair treatment at the company, Fyffes issued the following statement: "The Ethical Trading Initiative is currently overseeing a process looking into these matters, so this action is a purely opportunistic move by the unions concerned. Unlike them, we intend to respect the process and have no further comment to make at this stage."
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
