Dear Allies and Supporters of Farmworkers at Fyffes Melon Farms in Honduras,

More than 1,000 Honduran farmworkers are calling on Japanese-owned billion-dollar multinational fruit company Fyffes plc to respect their international labor rights, including their right to form their own independent union. 

On Wednesday more than 500 workers bravely delivered to the doorstep of Fyffes a petition signed by over 1,000 of their coworkers demanding their rights. The action comes after multiple accidents have occurred, including workers being hospitalized from toxic fumes in a Fyffes packing area and a worker who was hit by a truck and died on the job. 

“This year we’ve had to work even longer days and cover almost double the harvest area than before. We are bent over in the oppressive heat all day long and we still make so little that it’s hard to feed our families. We are fighting today to tell the company loud and clear: sign the agreement to respect our rights as workers and as human beings.”

– Kelyn Estrada, a 26 year single mother of two who has worked in the melons for the last six seasons  

The workers have been organizing with the independent farmworker union El Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria y Similares (STAS). STAS is affiliated to the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers (IUF) and working in close partnership with Global Labor Justice - International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) to hold this transnational fruit company accountable in the US where the majority of the melons picked in Honduras are sold. 

Workers want to form their own union with STAS so that together they can win good jobs that will enable them to work safely and support themselves and their families. 

They are calling for Fyffes, a leading exporter of fruit to the United States and Europe, to resume negotiations for a binding agreement to protect their international labor rights.

Thank you for standing with the workers. Can you help us amplify their voices and put pressure on Fyffes to come back to the negotiating table by sharing their fight on your social media channels? Sample social post is below, and you can follow and reshare posts with the hashtag #FairnessAtFyffes

Sample social posts:

Hundreds of Honduran farmworkers marched for their dignity and rights, delivering a petition signed by 1000+ workers to @FyffesIRL asking for #FairnessAtFyffes and a return to the negotiations for a fair contract. [Post with petition graphic]

We stand with the 1000+ Honduran farmworkers who harvest melons for fruit giant @FyffesIRL taking action to protect themselves from unsafe working conditions & their right to form an independent union. #FairnessAtFyffes [Post with petition graphic]

Image to post along with social posts: