The Ecuadorian banana sector stands out for the payment of living wages to workers on farms, according to the first analysis on the wage gap in the banana sector in Ecuador developed by the Working Group of the German Distribution on Living Wages, made up of ALDI Nord, ALDI South Group, Kaufland, REWE Group and dm-drogerie markt, reported the Banana Cluster of Ecuador.
The union highlighted that among the results of the study it stands out that more than 99% of the workers of the 78 farms participating in the project —which represent 64% of the total volume of bananas purchased from Ecuador— receive a living wage in accordance with the guidelines .
It was also found that women represent 13.69% of the labor force and that 90.19% lack an average salary difference with respect to men. “These data confirm Ecuador’s role as a pioneer in the payment of living wages in the banana sector,” says the Cluster.
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The first joint project of the working group of German retailers aims to promote living wages and decent work in the banana sector. Members have agreed to source at least 50% of their total volumes of “living wage bananas” for the German market by 2025.
The group notes that due to various factors, such as the complexity of supply chains, mostly indirect business relationships, and a lack of operational tools, retailers have so far had limited visibility into the wage situation of their employees. workers in their banana supply chains. Pay gap analysis is therefore crucial to increase transparency and understand supply chain risks.
Aebe explained that Ecuador was selected for implementation activities due to its importance as a supplier country and the strong union organizations in the sector, as well as its progress towards living wages as a result of the constitutional living wage policy. Banana farmers recorded wages using the IDH wage matrix to compare them with the reference living wage, which represents the minimum amount a worker must earn per week to maintain a basic standard of living for himself and his family. .
Aebe, for his part, recalled that a law included in the Ecuadorian Constitution obliges farms to comply with the regulatory requirement of “living wage”, which requires the payment of a living wage to their workers for a standard work week of 40 hours.
Its goal is to ensure that workers in the banana sector receive fair and dignified compensation for their work, which is a crucial step to promote decent work and improve workers’ living standards.
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“The legal requirement of ‘living wage’ is an important aspect of Ecuador’s commitment to promoting social justice and protecting the rights of the country’s workers. By requiring farms to comply with this policy, the Ecuadorian government seeks to ensure that workers in the banana sector can earn a salary that allows them to support themselves and their families,” analyzed the union, which assured that in this context Ecuador is prepared to supply more than 99% of its bananas to Europe with the category of “living wage”, while serving as an important model for the first project of the working group aimed at transferring the best practices of the sector to other producing countries.
Source: Eluniverso
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