Nelsón Jiménez (49) gives a reserved impression, but answers all the questions candidly. He chooses his words with care. “I am the union leader of Sintraimagra and I work as operator at a pressing plant (where the fruits are turned into oil). I’ve worked my whole life at this plant in Villavivencio.”
Constantly developing trade union work and defending workers’ rights are priority issues in Nelsón’s life. “We fight for the wellbeing of our workers in the palm oil sector. Not only financially, but also socially. Nowadays, workers face issues of exploitation, trade union obstruction and precarious work. We are not against the companies, but we want fair work and an appropriate salary. We are committed to direct, permanent contracts. At present, a lot of the work is outsourced, but we want the same rights for everyone.”
Nelsón refers particularly to the position of women as being extremely vulnerable. “They come into contact with pesticides and other substances, such as pheromones, which are sprayed onto the trees. This is inhaled, and it spreads all through the body. In areas where there are a large number of plantations, this is a common occurrence. Another problem is that women tend to be daily workers or to be working on an on-call basis. If it rains, they’re not allowed to go out spraying and are sent home again, without any wages. They have zero guarantee of work. Companies act as if they pay social security insurance contributions for them, but in fact they don’t. We’ve submitted a complaint about this. This also occurs with the workers who harvest the fruit, when it rains they don't get paid. There are other issues as well. For example, there are often no separate toilets for women, so they have to use the men's toilet or do their business outside.
In other words, plenty of issues for palm oil union Sintraimagra to raise. This generally takes place around a conference table with the employer, Nelsón tells us. “We collect information from the workers and bring this to the table. But in fact, it’s just for show, because although we do meet, management does nothing. Their thinking is: keep them happy and keep things as they are. We have argued the case for training programmes and training sessions, as many of workers have never had secondary education. And we also want better accommodation, but this means a hard battle.” More sector-wide action would be welcome, but the palm oil unions are seldom in agreement with each other. “This makes us less effective, which is why we’re here in the Netherlands, to engage in dialogue with each other and looking for ways to improve working conditions for workers. Nevertheless, we have achieved something at the company Manuelita. Through the union's struggle and demands submitted to the company, a plan has been made to improve the houses, as well as primary and secondary education for the workers."
The combination of low wages, hard work under difficult circumstances and the lack of job security is having a huge impact, he tells us. “In day-to-day life, the lack of guarantees is troubling. We are unable to build up any kind of future for our children. People don’t have adequate housing and can’t afford to pay for good education. The palm oil industry is growing, but we ourselves don’t notice that. What is more, companies are keeping our children from education. I myself have four children, ranging from 20 to 25 years of age. They have been able to study because I took out a bank loan and also because my wife has always worked. The loan has not yet been paid off; I have been unable to pay some of the instalments.”
Trade union work in Colombia is tough. Union members are threatened, and unions skilfully undermined. “Things will stay like that as long as companies act without regard for the person behind the worker”, Nelsón says. “Trade union work is like a flag, which we have to raise every day until we’ve reached our goal, which is the wellbeing of all the workers in the palm oil industry and a living wage. This is a day-by-day battle against the employers’ organisations and the companies. But we can’t stop until everything has been properly regulated.”
He fights steadily on. “I believe in this struggle, and I believe we have to do it together. We have to pull together to get things moving. To do this we need to train more leaders, and also acquire more knowledge. I make every effort to empower myself as well, and accumulate more knowledge and pass it on to other members. I want to share it, because I am absolutely convinced that we are in greater numbers than the employers. We are a powerhouse.”
The International Palm Oil Workers United network was established in March. Nelsón refers to it as being “extremely important”, a network of strategic importance. “By way of this international network we can show the entire world what is going on at the plantations. This allows our voice to be heard, the voice of the workers. Via Colombia, Indonesia and Africa we come into contact with all the buying countries. They hear about the working conditions in the producing countries and makes things very awkward for the producing companies. It’s great that we are receiving support from the European unions, including the FNV.” Nelson raises his fist: “We’ll fight on!”
Interview: Astrid van Unen