Date of publication: May 10, 2009

Source: El Diario NY

» http://www.impre.com/eldiariony/opinion/editorial/2009/5/10/a-mothers-quest-for-rights-123857-1.html

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It is a tradition to give flowers on Mother's Day. But what many of us are not familiar with is the far from rosy story behind those flowers.

In Colombia, bouquets don't bring the same joy to Amanda Camacho and other workers in the flower industry. There, workers?the majority women?are paid an average of $8 a day to cut 350 to 400 flowers per hour. They have no health benefits yet are exposed to chemicals and pesticides. Workdays are as long as 12 to 15 hours with no overtime pay. And they are under threat for attempting to unionize.

On our op-ed pages today, Camacho describes conditions for flower workers. She is on tour in the United States to increase awareness about labor abuses and has met with flower distributors here and members of Congress. Colombia produces 60 to 80 percent of the flowers imported by the United States.

A single mother, Camacho heads a recently-formed union in the Agricola Papgayo plantations in Colombia. In person, Camacho is petite and soft spoken. She appears tired. But she is tapping a resilience and strength many of us celebrate our own mothers for.

Labor activists say that free trade preferences, retailers and flower producers are setting up the exploitation of these workers in Colombia and other flower- exporting nations like Ecuador. They also say that a public relations campaign by flower producers has masked the truth about how workers are treated.

Clearly, Colombia, like other Latin American nations, should be able to grow its industries. But the rights of workers like Camacho cannot be sacrificed.

As consumers in a nation that shapes trade policies around the world, we have a responsibility to let our elected representatives know that the dignity and respect we expect as workers must also be the standard abroad.