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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 1:17 am
Time: 1:17 am
Results for labor conditions
1 results foundAuthor: Verite Title: Risk Analysis of Labor Violations Among Farmworkers in the Guatemalan Sugar Sector: A Summary Report on Findings from Rapid Appraisal Research Summary: Guatemala plays a major role in the global sugar trade, as the world's fourth largest sugar exporter and the third leading exporter of sugar to the United States in 2015. Verite chose to carry out rapid appraisal research on labor conditions on Guatemalan sugarcane plantations due to Guatemala's important role in the global sugar trade and indications that workers employed on sugarcane plantations were vulnerable to exploitation. Past studies on labor conditions among Guatemalan and Central American agricultural workers, as well as Verite's past research in the Guatemalan coffee and palm oil sectors, indicated a high risk of labor violations. Rapid appraisal research was carried out by Verite and REACH (Research-Education Action-Change) on labor conditions in Guatemalan sugarcane production in late 2016. Researchers conducted a literature review, expert consultations, unstructured life story interviews with three workers, and in-depth survey interviews with 38 workers who performed a range of tasks on sugar plantations, including harvesting sugarcane. Verite's research builds from several earlier reports examining working conditions in the Guatemalan sugar industry and uses it to contextualize Verite's more recent findings. Researchers did not scientifically sample respondents, and thus the results of the study are not statistically representative and are not meant to be interpreted as such. However, using qualitative research methods, the researchers have been able to portray a rich description of the experiences of a group of Guatemalan sugarcane workers, some of whom endured highly concerning labor abuses. Verite's triangulation of these findings through review of relevant literature and interviews with local experts suggests that the experiences of workers interviewed were not isolated or unusual, but reflective of systemic issues within the industry. Additional in-depth research would be required to document the prevalence of the labor abuses found here in a more precise and conclusive manner. Verite found indicators of labor trafficking and evidence of recruitment abuses, child labor, restrictions on workers' right to freedom of association, gender-based discrimination, wage and hour violations, threats to workers' health and safety, inhumane living conditions, and negative impacts on communities surrounding sugar plantations. Issues uncovered by Verite that were especially concerning and had not been specifically analyzed by prior research included exploitative recruitment and hiring practices, indicators of labor trafficking, and severe health and safety violations. Verite research has consistently found that being hired through labor brokers increases workers' vulnerability to a range of labor abuses. Most of the workers interviewed by Verite for this study had been hired by labor brokers, none of whom showed their recruits a power of attorney letter, as required by law. Verite research found that workers hired through brokers were often charged recruitment fees and wage deductions, potentially heightening their vulnerability to debt bondage, and were deceived both about their terms of employment, in some cases even about the sector in which they would be working. Furthermore, researchers found that workers were not provided with written contracts or other documents detailing the terms of their employment, making them vulnerable to deception and changes in their conditions of work. Research on human trafficking was guided by the International Labor Organization's (ILO's) operational indicators of trafficking for labor exploitation, which are broken down into indicators of deceptive recruitment, coercive recruitment, recruitment by abuse of vulnerability, exploitation, and coercion at destination. Verite found evidence of the existence of many indicators of forced labor including the recruitment-related issues mentioned above, many of which are also indicators of trafficking. Other major trafficking-related risks identified by Verite included forced overtime, due in large part to quotas and a productivity-based payment system; restrictions on workers' freedom of movement, including through the retention of identity documents; indebtedness to labor brokers and company stores; and evidence of induced addiction to drugs, including opioids. Sugarcane production, by its nature, puts workers at risk, often requiring physically demanding labor with machetes and long hours of exposure to high temperatures, agrochemicals, and smoke from burning cane fields. Workers are vulnerable to heat exhaustion and dehydration, as well as workplace injuries and chronic kidney disease (CKD), an often fatal and poorly understood illness common among cane cutters. Findings that are of specific concern were serious injuries and pesticide exposure; a lack of access to potable water, breaks, and shade, which, combined with other factors are believed to cause CKD; and a lack of access to health care. Many workers interviewed reported that children worked on sugar plantations and often carried out hazardous tasks, such as applying pesticides and using machetes to harvest sugarcane. Workers reported that payment violations are common, including payments far below the minimum wage and gender-based wage discrimination. Researchers found that many workers lacked access to sufficient food and potable water in employer provided housing. Workers also lacked access to grievance mechanisms allowing them to report labor abuses and seek redress. Details: Amherst, MA: Verite, 2017. 13op. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 7, 2017 at: https://www.verite.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Verite_Guatemala_Sugar_Report_July_2017.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Guatemala URL: https://www.verite.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Verite_Guatemala_Sugar_Report_July_2017.pdf Shelf Number: 146756 Keywords: Forced LaborHuman Rights AbusesHuman TraffickingLabor ConditionsSugar Industry |