Kenyan workers hit by chemicals

Workers at one of Kenya’s biggest pineapple plantations claim their health and safety is being put at risk by poor working conditions. The workers, backed by human rights groups and trade unions, are campaigning for improved conditions – including adequate protection from toxic pesticides used in pineapple production.

In December last year hundreds of workers from the Del Monte Kenya pineapple plantation and factory marched to the nearby town of Thika in protest at poor working conditions, breaches of contract and sexual harassment by senior employees.
More than 5500 workers are employed at the 5000 ha plantation where about 300,000 tonnes of pineapples are harvested every year. Most are sent to the canning factory at the plantation’s centre where 2000 workers, mainly women, wash, skin, core, slice and can the fruit which is exported to Europe, America and Japan. The Thika factory also produces juice squeezed from the skin and core of the pineapples which is frozen and shipped to European and American processing factories.
Del Monte Kenya (DMK) is owned by Del Monte Royal, one of several Del Monte companies formed after the sale in 1965 of the US Del Monte Corporation. But not all the pineapple leaving the Thika factory carries the Del Monte label. Tins are also labelled with the brand name of the company which will finally market them including Coop Italie, Mission, Soleado and Tesori dell’Arca.

Human rights group campaign
After researching conditions at the Thika factory the Italian human rights group Centro Nuovo Modello di Sviluppo (CNMS) has launched a campaign calling for a consumer boycott of Del Monte pineapple under the slogan ‘Let’s say no to the Del Monte man’. The group has asked Coop Italie, who market the pineapples in Italy, to apply pressure on Del Monte to improve working conditions.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission is backing the campaign and in a letter to Coop Italie said:

wages for casual workers and some seasonal workers at the Thika plantation are not enough to meet basic needs
toxic pesticides classified as Extremely Hazardous (Ia) and Highly Hazardous (Ib) by the World Health Organisation are being used on the plantation
sanitation and living quarters in the villages built by the company are disgraceful
inadequate medical benefits and housing allowances are being paid to workers entitled to them
internal trade union leaders are being intimidated
many workers’ wages are being cut as they are downgraded from permanent to seasonal status under a restructuring process

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation recommends that pesticides in Class Ia and Ib should not be used in developing countries because of the lack of proper training, protective clothing and equipment. Class II should also preferably not be used unless the user is trained and supervised.
CNMS claim there have been no courses to inform workers about the dangers of pesticide use at DMK and precautions and health protection measures used in the North are not taken.

Del Monte’s response
Del Monte Royal refutes CNMS’s claims. It says DMK takes part in GCPF, the Global Crop Protection Federation, an international association of agrochemical manufacturers, which runs a programme for the responsible use of pesticides.
But an audit report by an independent certification company found that at the Thika plant ‘… training records for the use of protective clothing and information about health hazards of pesticides were not available for all personnel involved.’ Records of personnel training on health and safety hazards were not available, it added and in the pesticide store signs and labels were in English only. The plantation’s list of ‘toxic substances’ also did not appear to be either approved or dated.
Inside the cannery inspectors carrying out the audit found women were not wearing protective equipment against high levels of noise. Some were not wearing safety shoes and a welder working on machinery had no protective equipment.

Employees die from cancer
No research has been carried out among workers at the Thika plant into the incidence of tumours, congenital malformation or other health effects which may be related to pesticide exposure. CNMS reports that in the past two years four Del Monte employees have died of throat cancer. All four worked in the maintenance department where contaminated vehicles, used to spray pesticides, are serviced. Del Monte Royal said: ‘Contrary to CNMS reports there has been no evidence to point to any illness or disease or fatalities at the site arising from unsafe industrial practices.’
The minimum hourly wage in Kenya is 14.40 KSH/hour and employers are required to provide medical assistance for all workers. The Kenya Human Rights Commission reckon workers need to earn 305.66 KSH a day to cover the basic needs, including food and rent, of a family of six in Thika. Casual workers at the Thika plant earn 12.60-13.30 KSH/hour, according to the audit report. They have no written contract, medical service or housing allowance. Seasonal plantation workers earn little more in their first year (14.40KSH/hour); seasonal factory workers earn a higher rate (32.22 KSH/hour) but no seasonal workers are entitled to medical assistance or pension scheme. (John Harvey: Guest Editor)

This is how Peter Mutiso Kamolo, an employee of DMK, died on 5 August last year.
On 2 August, Mr Mutiso reported for harvesting as usual. During the morning, he felt feverish and his face was swelling. He went to the company clinic, and the duty officer gave him some paracetomol and recommended that he went back to work.
    Next morning, he felt worse and stayed at home, hoping he would be better the next day. But, on 4 August, he returned to the clinic with his brothers, one of whom told the duty nurse that Mr Mutiso had not yet been housed by the company and did not have enough money to rent.
    The nurse replied that company policy did not allow treatment of seasonal staff such as Mr Mutiso when he was not working. The brother pleaded for first aid so that he could take Mr Mutiso to Kilimambogo Hospital, about 15 kilometres away. The nurse refused.
    The brother left Mr Mutiso at the clinic gates while he searched for a car for the journey to hospital. DMK security personnel said company rules wouldn’t allow the loan of a car. The brother left, but while he was away, the security staff realised Mr Mutiso had died. Ironically, three vehicles were immediately released to cope with the incident, and the clinic nurse turned up to confirm the death. A post mortem report was prepared to examine the evidence of negligence and Mr Mutiso’s symptoms of poisoning.

Based on campaign information provided by Francesco Gesualdi, Centro Nuovo Modello di Sviluppo, Vecchiano, Italy. Email coord@cnms.it.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 47, March 2000, page 3]