Human Impact Social and Environmental Costs Environmental Impact Union Busting Plantation workers are often effectively denied the right to join a trade union. Dismissal for organising union activity or even just joining a union is common.
Workers are often afraid to stand up for their rights in case they are fired.
In most countries where bananas are produced for export, no state financial support is available for unemployed people. Union members are often blacklisted and unable to get work on any banana plantation. In countries like Colombia, where civil war is rampant, banana union members can also be at risk of their lives. Solidarismo Companies have tried to weaken and replace independent trade unions with a form of workers association, known as solidarismo , which would not challenge the company on issues like wages and working conditions. This movement attempted to replace collective trade union bargaining with labour peace .