For almost a decade, the mostly women seasonal farmworkers harvesting and packing melons for Fyffes in Choluteca, Honduras, have been fighting child labor, dangerous working conditions, poverty wages, gender-based violence and harassment, and discrimination.
Workers have demanded respect for their fundamental labor rights, improvements to occupational safety and health conditions, improved job security, protections for women workers, and wage increases.
The workers formed a union chapter of El Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria y Similares (STAS) to cultivate justice in the fields. They are fighting to turn precarious work into good jobs with rights– and they’ve made an impact. More than 6,500 Honduran workers, a majority women, work seasonal jobs in Fyffes’ fields and packing houses. Fyffes is owned by the Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo, which also owns other fresh produce brands, including Highline Mushrooms. The workers produce millions of melons that Fyffes sells in the U.S. They are the seeds of Fyffes’ success and have been tenaciously fighting for the dignity and respect on the job that they deserve.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
Farmworkers have bravely been demanding fruit giant Fyffes agree to uphold international labor standards since 2006
2024
STAS Reports Abuses Continue at Fyffes Melon Farms
In September, STAS and allies unveil a new report on working conditions at Fyffes melon farms. Trade unions, worker...
2023
Over 1000 Workers Demand Justice
In November, five women workers who were discriminated against in the early hiring process for the season hold an a...2022
Fyffes Abandons Human and Labor Rights Agreement in Honduras
After years of negotiations, Fyffes refuses to sign an agreement with STAS that would recognize international human...
2021
Melon Workers Say Conditions in the Field Are Pushing Them to Migrate to the U.S.
Many melon workers say that the conditions in the field are pushing them to migrate to the U.S. in search of better...2019
STAS Members Secure Fyffes’ Commitment to Negotiate a Human and Labor Rights Agreement in Honduras
STAS secures a commitment from Fyffes to negotiate an enforceable and binding agreement with a timeline for signing...
2019
Costco and Whole Foods Cut Ties With Fyffes
Costco honors workers’ call to stop making orders from Fyffes until they respect workers’ international labor r...
2018
Industry Certifiers Say Fyffes Is Not Ethical
Ethical-sourcing certification body Fair Trade USA decertifies Fyffes melon operations in Honduras after workers, S...2018
Fyffes Forms “Yellow Unions” Led by Management
Fyffes forms two “yellow unions” whose executive boards consist of Fyffes’ management and employees with mana...
2017
Union Leaders Brave a Violent Attack
A group of masked men attack the STAS General Secretary and his brother with machetes while threatening them to lea...2016
Workers Form Historic Union; Fyffes Retaliates
To address gender discrimination, child labor, rampant wage theft, and exposure to toxic agrochemicals on Fyffes’...
2012
Unions File CAFTA Complaint
COSIBAH joins the AFL-CIO and twenty-six Honduran Labor unions in filing a complaint under the Central America Free...2012
Workers Win Safe Transportation, Restrooms, and Shade Breaks
COSIBAH raises concerns about workers’ safety as hundreds of people are loaded in the backs of pickup trucks to t...2009
Coup D’etat Creates Dangerous Environment for Workers and Union Leaders
The coup d’etat interrupts Ministry of Labor investigations; there is massive state repression of unions and othe...
2006-2009
Workers Speak Out, Plant the Seeds of their Campaign for Justice
Workers at Fyffes’ melon farms report to COSIBAH (Coordinadora de Sindicatos Bananeros y Agroindustriales de Hond...
The workers continue their fight for their right to an independent union and decent work.
Maria Faustina Gomez, 48-year old single mother and grandmother who has worked in the melon fields for 11 seasons:
“Along with a group of women workers from Chaguites, I started organizing with STAS in 2016 to improve our conditions in the melon fields. Before, we did not even have toilets and we had no transportation. We won both of those fights but we’re still fighting for job security and better wages. We want Fyffes to sign an agreement with us to recognize our union and protect our fundamental labor rights.”
María Betty Gómez, 54-year-old mother of four who has worked for 27 seasons in the Fyffes fields:
“I’ve worked in these fields for almost 30 years. My husband also used to work in the fields for Fyffes but now he is sick with diabetes and high blood pressure and no longer able to do the hard physical labor in the fields like he used to so the company no longer hires him. In the winter months, we barely eat. I sell tortillas out of my home to survive the off-season while waiting to be hired again. I joined STAS to fight for better working conditions and pay– enough to feed myself, my husband, and my children all year round.”
Maris Yamileth Erazo Varela, 43-year-old single mother who has been working in the melon fields for 14 seasons
“I joined the fight to organize in 2017 because like so many other women, I want Fyffes to respect my rights as a worker and provide better conditions for us in the fields.”
Ana Delia Erazo, 49-year-old single mother who has worked for Fyffes for 28 seasons
“Four years ago, I joined STAS to fight for better working conditions at the melon farms. I am a single mom, with an 8-year-old daughter in school. It costs about 3000 Lempiras ($122) for me to feed my family each week, but there are days when I find it hard to make enough. This is why we need job stability and for Fyffes to sign an agreement recognizing our union and our fundamental rights.”
In the press
Honduras: Fyffes escalates against melon workers with retaliatory firings triggering government investigation 
04/09/2023
Hundreds of Honduran Melon Workers Protest Unsafe Conditions, Call for Labor Rights
29/03/2023
Honduras: Melon pickers protest unsafe working conditions and call for labour rights at Fyffes
29/03/2023
Hundreds of Honduran Melon Workers Protest Unsafe Conditions, Call for Labor Rights
23/03/2023
GLJ-ILRF Condemns Fruit Giant Fyffe’s For Abandoning Human and Labor Rights Agreement in Honduras
09/06/2022
Honduras: 6,500 workers on Fyffes’ melon plantations report ongoing labour abuses, chemical exposure & union busting; Incl. company responses
12/05/2020
Labor Unrest Is Erupting on Honduran Plantations—And Rattling the Global Supply Chain
13/02/2019
Unions Accuse Fyffes Of Sacking Trade Union Members In Hondurasesmmagazine.com
21/02/2017
Irish company Fyffes accused of labour abuses in Central America
14/02/2017
Our Fruit, Their Labor and Global Reality
01/06/2002
