Employment and working conditions in the Colombian flower industry

SAP 2.75/WP.129

Industrial Activities Branch
Working Paper

Employment and working conditions
in the Colombian flower industry

1. Introduction

2. Floriculture in Colombia
    2.1 Origins
    2.2 Production and export trends
    2.3 Employers' associations

3. Employment generation
    3.1 Cultivated area
    3.2 Workers per hectare
    3.3 Employment evolution

4. Employment characteristics

5. Quality of employment
    5.1   Wages and benefits
    5.2 Temporary work
    5.3   Subcontracting
    5.4   Working time
    5.5   Labour turnover
    5.6   Employment seniority
    5.7   Trade unionism
    5.8   Child Labour
    5.9   Labour inspection
    5.10 Occupational health
    5.11 Social environment

6. Summary and conclusions

7. Bibliography

Stefano Farné
Professor, Department of Economics,
Universidad Externado y Javeriana,
Bogota, Colombia

Working papers are preliminary documents circulated informally in
a limited number of copies mainly to stimulate discussion and obtain comments

International Labour Office, Geneva
November 1998

1. Introduction

Despite being one of the more successful sectors of the Colombian economy in recent decades, little is in fact known about the labour market in the flower sector. Even less is known about qualitative employment conditions in the sector. While the employers' associations hold that flower-growing enterprises fully respect labour legislation and even offer conditions of labour and work much above those observed in other parts of the agricultural sector, cases of violation of workers' rights are not unknown and have been widely reported abroad. However, very few sources of primary information on the labour market and employment in the flower industry exist. In particular, no representative study at the national level could be traced. Consequently, this analysis is based on a series of studies of an important group of flower enterprises with affiliation to the employers' association of Sabana de Bogotá and two researches undertaken by the University of the Andes and the National University, both carried out in the Municipality of Madrid, in the Department of Cundinamarca(1).

Information contained in these reports suggests the existence of a very heterogeneous labour market with varied conditions of employment. Three principal characteristics may be noted: modern enterprises with a strong export orientation, a flat occupation structure which at the operational level requires personnel with minimum qualifications, and recruitment of labour from rural areas. We are faced, therefore, with a modern market, but one not very demanding in terms of human resources and with operating characteristics of rural as well as urban labour markets. Even its geographical location is both urban as well as rural. Thus, the criteria for evaluating employment conditions in the sector should include both urban as well as rural standards (for which we have very few reference points). Neither are the enterprise policies with respect to human resources management more homogeneous. Enterprises which care for the working and living conditions of their workers coexist with others where in the context of international competition the main focus of attention is cost, in particular labour cost. This heterogeneity must inform the analysis and the conclusions that can be drawn.

The report is structured in five parts. The next section will present changes in the flower-growing industry in Colombia since its beginning. Section 2 will estimate the employment generated by the sector and section 3 discuss some of its main characteristics. Section 4 addresses questions relating to types of labour contracts, wage levels, social benefits, working time, and labour stability. The final section contains a summary of the main findings and conclusions.

Updated by BR. Approved by OdVR. Last update: 28 September 2000.