Bernard Pollack, who is taking a leave of absence from the AFL-CIO to travel through Africa, and Danielle Nierenberg send us a report from their journey through Africa. Read more at their blog, Border Jumpers.
Flights resumed across Europe yesterday after clouds of ash from an Icelandic volcano left travelers stranded for days.
And while we feel deep sympathy for all the stories of weddings being canceled, funerals missed and family reunions delayed, the volcano’s impact on workers in Africa means many are losing much-needed wages.
It may be hard to believe, but much of the fruits and vegetables sold in grocery stores in the United Kingdom are grown by African farmers. And the roses, orchids, carnations, irises and other flowers sold in Amsterdam and London are grown on huge flower plantations in Kenya and Ethiopia.
While we were in Naivasha, Kenya, last November with the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center, we had the chance to visit a flower factory called the Sher Karuturi plant where nearly 1,000 workers produce up to 1 million roses a day, which are sold at auction in Holland and eventually make their way through the European Union and to the United States. Yet, with no planes landing in Europe, most of these roses—Bella Rose, Red Calypso, Sunny Sher, Wild Thing, Ria and Inca—are left to wilt at the factory and many workers are going home unpaid or have been laid off.
In addition, millions of pounds of food have been wasted—at dozens of vegetable processing plants in Kenya—mountains of broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes and other vegetables rotted because they couldn’t be shipped to the United Kingdom. They also, unfortunately, weren’t sold at local markets or given to schools or to food aid agencies.
And while things are now getting back to normal at Europe’s airports, Africa’s economy will likely take longer to bounce back.
Hopefully, this week will serve as an important lesson about how the world’s workers are left vulnerable—especially those without access to union representation. As environmental problems, including the impact of climate change, political shocks and corporate greed, increase, it will be more important than ever to find ways to protect an increasingly global workforce.
