TUC Aid update: British trade unions supporting Guatemalan banana workers union

In late November, Noé Ramirez, General Secretary of the Guatemalan banana workers’ union SITRABI, visited the UK with the support of unions and TUC Aid.

Funding from Unite, UNISON, GMB, UCU and Aslef, as well as TUC Aid, enabled Noé to travel here with the aim of raising the profile of Guatemalan unions’ struggle as they face an uncertain future. Guatemala has just elected an unproven President backed by the country’s employers and military.

The centrepiece of the visit was the annual Latin America conference, held at Congress House on 28 November. Noé was invited to speak twice, firstly in the general plenary in the morning, in front of more than 450 attendees, then again later in a workshop focusing on anti-union violence in Guatemala. The workshop drew a good – and disproportionately young in the context of the conference – crowd.

Earlier in the week, Noé met with British unions, including a general meeting at Congress House and a visit to UNISON to meet the international team there.

The TUC was also able to facilitate two further meetings for Noé. Firstly staff from Diana Johnson’s office, in relation to her role as shadow FCO minister for Latin America, met Noé at Portcullis House to discuss ways in which she might be able to help raise important issues. There was then a meeting with the new lead on Guatemala at the FCO, who is now arranging a meeting between Noé and the new UK ambassador to Guatemala. 

Overall Noé was delighted with the visit and the opportunities it afforded him to discuss the situation in Guatemala and help sustain the international solidarity that has been so important in stemming anti-union violence and forcing employers and the government to negotiate with SITRABI.

However, the news Noé brought us was mixed. As expected, the main northern banana producer, Del Monte, is demanding unreasonable increases in productivity from SITRABI members, using the possibility of relocation to the non-unionised – and much cheaper - south of Guatemala as a threat. A positive outcome for the main TUC Aid funded project, supporting SITRABI’s efforts to organise plantations in the south (in alliance with the AFL-CIO, Italy’s CGIL and the ITUC), will be crucial to stopping this behaviour.

On the other hand, the unions are fulfilling one of the priorities of the project by making links with civil society. SITRABI are working with partnership with progressive church groups in the south, who are helping them identify suitable workers in the plantations to train as organisers and reps.