They make your bouquet of roses

There is a good chance that the bouquet of roses you buy or are given has come from Uganda. Uganda is the fifth largest African flower exporter and exports 22 million euro worth a year to the Netherlands. This is nearly 85% of the entire flower export from Uganda. Beatrice, Eunice, Rebecca and Sophia work at a large rose grower and exporter and are trade union leaders. What is their story?

They grow your roses

Beatrice, Eunice, Rebecca and Sophia work at Rosebud, the largest rose grower and exporter in Uganda, where most of the 1,700 employees are women or young people. Rosebud exports almost 100% of its roses to the Netherlands. They are active members of the horticultural union UHISPAWU. Come and make their acquaintance. What do they think of their work, of trade union work, and what are they proud of?

Photographer Jan Banning took the photos, Hope Kabuchu did the interviews for these portraits.

FNV supports horticultural union

Among the problems for the workers in the sector are wages that are too low, safe & healthy working practices and sexual harassment. Mondiaal FNV and FNV Agrarisch Groen (Agricultural & Green sector) support the Ugandan horticultural union UHISPAWU in becoming a strong union and a social partner. This was one of the factors that enabled the union to recruit almost 4,000 new members between 2015 and 2019, which represents a fivefold increase in their membership numbers. The union also has a better relationship with the employer and is able to agree improvements in working conditions. The union is known as the ‘young union’ because most of the leaders and members are under the age of forty.