ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the multinational Chiquita and its sourcing of bananas from Latin America. Large multinationals involved in trading bananas are under increasing pressure to improve labour conditions in their own plantations and those of ‘independent producers'. The material is based mainly on the following primary sources: two focus group discussions conducted in July 2001 with women banana workers in the local trade union, Associacion de Trabajadores del Campo, in Chinandega, Nicaragua; interviews with representatives of the local trade union; and an in-depth interview conducted with George Jaksch, Chiquita's senior director of corporate responsibility and public affairs. Chiquita's Corporate Social Responsibility programme includes internal and external assessment, an agreement with the unions through the Chiquita/colsiba/iuf Framework agreement and the membership of the multi-stakeholder uk-based Ethical Trade Initiative. Chiquita's code states that their employees should be aware of the code.
