transformedlabor conditions in the costa rican sugar industry

Labor Conditions in the Costa Rican Sugar IndustryBy ASEPROLA and the International Labor Rights Fund

May 2005

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Table of Contents

I. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………. . .4

1. General Aspects of the Sugar Cane Industry in Costa Rica…………………. .…4

1 1 Economic Data on the Sugar Cane Industry in Costa Rica…. .……………. . .…5

12 Percentages ofProductionfor Domestic Consumption and For Export………9

13 Characteristics of the Markets that Purchase Exports…………………….……9

2. Crises,Mechanization and Opening……………………………………………. 10

21 The Crises…………………………………………………………………. . .…10

22 Mechanization………………………………………………….…………. . .…11

3. Organization of the Sector:La Liga Agrícola Industrial dela Caña de Azúcar……………………………………………………….…….…11

4. Description of the Companies Involved……………………………………. . .…12

5. The Sugar Agro-Industry in Costa Rica…………………………………. .……13

51 Field Production:Plantations and Small Farms…………….……………. .…13

52 Processing………………………………………………………………. .…. . . 13

6. Relationship Between Cultivators and Processors………………………….…14

7. Working Conditions…………………………………………………………. . . . . 15

71 Situation of the Workers at the Processing Plants……………….…………. . . 15

72 Hiring………………………………………………………………………. . . 15

73 Salaries……………………………………………………………………. . . 16

74 Occupational Risks…………………………………………………………. . . 17

75 LaborRights…………………………………………………………………17

II. FIELD RESEARCH WITH SUGAR CANE WORKERS…………………………. . . . . .20

1. Methodology…………………………………………………………………. . . .20

2. The Northern Zone and Guanacaste……………………………………. .……22

21 The Northern Zone:Production Characteristics and Labor Conditions…… 2222 Guanacaste:Production Characteristics and Labor Conditions…………….24

3. Working Conditions of the People Employed by Sugar Refineries….……. . .2631 Social Demographic Profile ofPeople Interviewed…………………………26

32 Labor Integration ofSugar Refinery Workers…….…………………………29

33 Labor Conditions……………………………………. .………………. . .……31

331 Workday……………………………………. .………….……31

332 Length of Workweek………………………….…. .……….….31

333 ContractDetails……………………………………………. . .31

334 Daily income…………………………………….……………32

335 Insurance……………………………………….……………33

336 Supply of WorkEquipment……………………….…………. .34

3.3.7 Labor Organization………………………………………. .…34

4. Labor Conditions of Sugarcane Harvest Workers…………………………. .34

41 Social Demographic ofPeople Interviewed………………………………. . .35

42 Labor Integration ofSugarcane Harvest Workers……………. . .…….…. . . .37

421 Years of Working in Sugarcane Harvesting………….………….37

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422 Tasks Realized………………………………………….……….37

423 Period of the Year Working the Sugarcane Harvest…. . .………37

43 Labor Conditions…………………………………….……………. .………38

431 Workday……………………………………………. .………38

432 Length of Workweek………………………………. . .………38

433 Contract Details and Form ofPayment……………. .……. . . .39

434 DailyIncome………………………………………. . .………39

435 Recognition of Overtime………………………………….…40

436 Housing During the Sugarcane Harvest………………….…40

437 Insurance………………………………………………….…40

438 Afiliation with Pension Systems,Protectionfrom Firing,etc……………………. .……………. .……….40

439 Medical Assistance and Incidences ofIllness……….….……41

4310 Supply of WorkEquipment………………………….…….…41

4311 Utilization of Chemicals………………………………….…42

III. FINAL REFLECTIONS…………………………………………………………….43

BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………………. . .…46

Appendix A:The Convention for Importing Labor……………………………………. .…49

Appendix B: Interview with Johnny Ruiz………………………………………………. .…50

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I. INTRODUCTION

In recent years, various external and internal processes have modified Costa Rica’seconomic activities.These processes include the country’s insertion into the globalizedmarket, the opening of its market, its integration into economic and financial blocks,andchanges in the internal social and economic model that have transformed essentialactivities in the country’s development. It is in this context that we will analyze the sugarindustry, in which producers, processors, and field workers have been impacted indifferent ways.

Sugar production is concentrated in a group of similarly-sized(about 300 hectares) sugarplantations. The productive processes, however, differ, based on access to resources,credit,and labor.There are about 7,000 independent producers who face problems relatedto technological development,mechanization,working conditions, and relations withcontractors.On the other hand, the development and expansion of this activity hascoincided with an increase in international migration to Costa Rica, especially withrespect to the Nicaraguan immigrants that contribute significantly to the labor force atharvest time. This situation determines the working conditions of a large number ofworkers.

We have produced this report in order to go into these variables in more depth.Theobjective of this report is to develop a diagnostic on the sugar cane industry activity. Ithas been prepared by ASEPROLA(Asociación Servicios de Promoción Laboral) at therequest of the International Labor Rights Fund(ILRF),as part of continuing collaborationbetween these organizations to promote and defend workers’ rights in the region.This study began with the gathering, systematization and analysis of secondary sourceinformation.We mapped the main web pages related to the sugar industry, including LigaAgrícola Industrial de la Caña de Azúcar (LAICA), Comercio Exterior (COMEX),Promotora de Comercio Exterior (PROCOMER), Secretaría Ejecutiva de PlanificaciónSectorial Agropecuaria (SEPSA), Sistema de información del Sector AgropecuarioCostarricense (INFOAGRO), and journalistic information from the main nationalnewspapers (La Nación,La República,La Prensa Libre,Al Día, and La Extra).We also

de Migraciones Laborales (ATML) of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security(hereafter referred to as MTSS).We conducted an interview with the head of this agency,Johnny Ruiz,which is incorporated in the appendix of this report.

1. General aspects of the sugar cane industry in Costa Rica

The sugar cane agro-industry is one of Costa Rica’s main economic and productiveactivities.Chávez(1994) says that this activity has represented a fundamental export thathas allowed Costa Rica to broaden and diversify their export products in the last 30 years,and that it is one of the most important agricultural products for domestic consumption,

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because it generates jobs and financial resources for the country, and has led to theelimination of sugar imports (Chávez, 1994:1).

as well as an important number of temporary workers during harvest time. It has beenestimated that there are about 30,000 workers linked to this industry(LAICA).

In addition, the industry generated about $42 million in export earnings in the 2003-4harvest, a figure that is about 10%higher than the earnings from the 2002-3 harvest,which totaled$38 million.

About 7 million 50-kg bags of sugar are produced annually, of which 4 million aredestined for internal consumption. This allows the country to depend on nationalproduction and avoid importing sugar.

The Costa Rican sugar production impacts specific localities in the country.Some zones,like Región Huetar Norte,where San Carlos and its plantations are located,provide rawmaterial to other zones. It also forms part of the chain of productive structures in theZona Norte and Pacífico Seco(plantations producing sugar in the Guanacaste province),where the workers primarily come from Nicaraguan border communities.

1.1 Economic Data on the Sugar Cane Industry in Costa Rica

Sugar production in Costa Rica totals about 300,000 metric tons (hereafter referred to as,This production has been steadily increasing.Production totaled 370,000 MT during the2003-4 harvest,which represented an increase of about 5%from the previous year. In2004, it is expected that production will increase 5.4%to 390,000 MT(Prensa Libre,April 26,2004).

This increase in production can be attributed to two processes.On the one hand, it is theresult of an increase in the planted area,which increased from 44,200 hectares in 1997 to48,000 hectares in 2001 (La Nación,November 1,2003)and which currently totals about51,000 hectares. It is also due to the industry’s insertion into open and competitivemarkets,which demand that a certain number of metric tons of sugar be provided eachyear by the Costa Rican plantations.

The sugar is produced by a total of 16 sugar plantations and about 6,000-7,000independent producers whose property varies from 1 to 600 hectares.According to the

1Represents 26%of the EAP without including the many extra workers required during the harvest period(LAICAweb page) The gathered information does not give the exact number of male and female workers in each mill or

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Liga Agrícola Industrial de la Caña de Azúcar(LAICA), the tenancy structure of the landshows that 90%of the sugar cane producers have less than 7 hectares of land under sugarcane production(LAICA official web page,www.laica.co.cr).

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Diagram 1

The production process for sugar cane in Costa Rica

There are six sugar cane zones in the country:Guanacaste, Puntarenas, San Carlos,Turrialba (Juan Viñas), the Southern Zone, and the Central Valley (LAICAwww.laica.co.cr).Map 1 shows the location of the main Costa Rican sugar cane regions,which are concentrated in the dry Pacific region(Guanacaste),Central Valley(Alajuela,San José)and Huetar Atlántica(Juan Viñas de Turrialba).

Source:Chávez, 1994The group of sugar mills in the dry Pacific region of Guanacaste make up 25%of thetotal mills in the country and represent 59%of the total metric tons of cut cane and 55%of the sugar produced.The following table summarizes the amount of hectares plantedaccording to region,and presents the differences between the activities carried out by thesugar mills and the independent producers.

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TABLE 1

Costa Rica

Hectares planted in sugar cane

Harvest 2001-2002

Laborales.

Source:MTSS 2002.

1.2 Percentages ofProductionfor Domestic Consumption and For Export

The amount of sugar destined for internal consumption and for export has varied. In the1990s,between 70%and 80%of sugar produced in Costa Rica was consumed internally,

1988 and 1993, Costa Rica also exported sugar to Korea,Mexico, the USSR, andNicaragua(Documento políticas y prácticas comerciales por sectores, Internet).From 2000 to 2001, sugar exports increased by 26%. In 2000,48%was exported and theremaining 52%was for domestic consumption(La Republica,August 27,2001).Although a significant proportion of sugar production is used to satisfy domestic demand,the percentage destined for export has been increasing considerably.One of the reasonsfor this change is the opening of important markets such as Canada.

1.3 Characteristics of the Markets that Purchase Exports

Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Costa Rica also explored a new market, Japan (LaRepública,Nov. 15,2002).

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