'Meet the new boss': The rise of Colombia's labor co-ops
'Meet the new boss': The rise of Colombia's labor co-ops
By John Otis, Global Post | 08:23 am.
PUENTE SOGAMOSO, Colombia — Sweating in the mid-morning heat, Eusebio Rodriguez leads an oxcart between towering palm trees to gather their purple-and-orange fruit, which is used to make palm oil.
Rodriguez, who earns about $15 a day for harvesting a ton and a half of palm fruit, would like to sign up with the local union. That would mean perks, like sick leave and paid vacations, as well as a helmet and gloves to protect his body from the porcupine-like spines protruding from the fruit.
Instead, Rodriguez belongs to a cooperative which offers almost no benefits or job security.
In theory, Colombian co-ops are owned by the workers who provide businesses with niche expertise and split the profits. But according to labor-rights activists as well as a recent US State department report, many co-ops function as glorified temp agencies providing companies with cheap and docile non-union workers.
More:
http://www.minnpost.com/global-post/2012/03/meet-new-boss-rise-colombias-labor-co-ops