Thorns grow between the flowers – Work and digitalization

‘The working day at her flower farm is meant to be eight hours, but she explains that she often feels obliged to work an extra three hours, for which she does not receive overtime compensation.’ These lines only refer to the general working conditions in a Kenyan greenhouse. This month’s BBC report, complete with interviews with workers, also mentions sexual harassment and illness as consequences of working in Kenya’s flower industry.

The sector that brings about 900 million euros to Kenya every year – although less than a hundred euros per month to the worker – ultimately serves Europe. Products from Kenya account for 40 percent of the European flower market.

In addition to the exploitation of workers, the trade causes significant climate damage. “Flower production requires a lot of water, and to feed Europe’s appetite for cheap cut flowers, the flowers are shipped refrigerated in gas-guzzling long-haul planes, wrapped in single-use plastic, and usually arranged in toxic floral foam to keep them fresh,” the report said.

The pickers come from families struggling to survive, yet one perfume bottle is sold for hundreds of euros.

In Egypt, children have now been caught picking jasmine flowers at 3 a.m. for the French company L’Oréal and other fragrance manufacturers. The pickers come from families struggling to survive, yet one perfume bottle is sold for hundreds of euros.

European companies have increased their profits by avoiding tax obligations in the producing country. A 2020 investigation found that ‘flower companies avoid local taxes through export companies in the Netherlands and trusts in tax havens such as the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands, Liechtenstein and Jersey. Others sell their turnover to sister companies in Dubai at an artificially low price, meaning that the profit does not fall on the Kenyan farm, but on a foreign entity where the profit tax is also much lower than in Kenya.’

A symbolic process

Migrants from the majority world already have a history of working in Europe under inhospitable conditions. But even far from the European continent, the needs and whims of the minority world dominate and diminish the lives of the majority population. The favored continent manages to sidestep the issue of responsible sourcing due to weak laws and tiered supply chains. There are conscientious consumers who want to avoid products that are the result of extractive practices. But the Fairtrade certificate they are looking for has not proven to be credible enough.

The supply chain from the flower growing countries – which also includes Ethiopia and Ecuador – is long. This makes it difficult to prevent or ignore malpractice at the local level by agricultural supervisors and contractors. In Kenya, for example, “workers are given very high targets, which they cannot achieve despite working more than 12 or 14 hours a day. Having failed to meet these targets, female employees are forced to complete the target the next day without pay or offer bribes or sexual favors to a supervisor to keep their jobs.”

Half of these flowers are sold through auctions in the Netherlands. This means they do not qualify for the protection of the European Union’s Business Due Diligence Directive, in force since July, which covers ‘established business relationships’.

Meanwhile, social audits of workplaces, when conducted without building trust and engaging with employees, have failed to uncover companies that make mistakes. Ultimately, they are a symbolic process – not intended to detect forced labor or understand daily working conditions, but only to record what was visible on the day and time of the visit.

Enforcing labor rights

Strict regulation and control of working hours can ensure that cases of farmers suffering from tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome and other injuries do not recur. The EU must also recognize the increased vulnerability of women on these farms – especially in light of International Labor Organization Convention 190, which requires safe and dignified working conditions for women in the labor market. Maternity leave, sick leave, crèches, transport assistance (to cover long journeys to the workplace) and insurance are all vital to the health and wellbeing of workers and their households – and even entire families are often employed on the farms.

There is laxity around flower farming as it is not seen as food, but people still consume the chemicals used to grow and maintain the crops. No business should be done with farms that use pesticides because ‘floriculture workers are constantly exposed to toxins in fertilizers, pesticides and preservatives used to extend the life of flowers. Furthermore, these harmful substances pollute water streams and soil, enter the food chain and cause significant damage to local communities living close to the horticultural greenhouses.’

To first identify this forced labor, long-term partnerships with suppliers will have to be developed.

Anti-Slavery International and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights have made a series of recommendations on the import controls that Europe could impose. These may be associated with ‘a particular production location’, ‘a particular importer or company’ or ‘an entire industry’ in the case of forced labour, whether imposed by state or non-state actors. This would give customs the authority to stop contaminated products at the border.

In April, the European Parliament passed a regulation ‘to ban the sale, import and export of goods made with forced labour’. However, to first identify this forced labor, long-term partnerships will need to be developed with suppliers, where the relationship is not just about sales and purchasing, but also about non-negotiable terms on workers’ rights, supported by regular training, monitoring and on-site inspections. .

Fair flower cultivation is possible

More civil society campaigns on responsible sourcing are needed, coupled with raising awareness among consumers in Europe. For example, this can reduce the demand for flowers, which require heavy irrigation, otherwise leading to water scarcity in the region of origin.

One excuse for the poor wages paid to flower farm workers is that higher wages would deter customers. Yet a McKinsey survey of food retailers found: “About 60 percent of… consumers would be willing to pay more for products if worker safety and child labor were guaranteed.” And flowers are non-essential goods, which their price may reflect.

In the meantime, governments can reward companies that are serious about ethical purchasing through financial incentives and subsidies. McKinsey has also found that companies that are more compliant with environmental, social and governance regulations do better in terms of stock valuation and access to financing. Furthermore, by paying a living wage, a company can reduce employee turnover by 30 percent.

The general public and civil society can put pressure on governments in their respective European countries to make the global flower trade less lopsided – and fairer for majority world growers.

This is a joint publication of Social Europe And IPS Journal