Gent Fair Trade is organising the Banana Run on March 8 to break the world record for the fastest half marathon in a banana costume. The current record was set in a Chiquita costume, but we deliberately choose a Fair Trade banana suit. In doing so, we want to draw attention to fair trade and better working conditions in the banana industry, aspects that are not self-evident with the well-known banana giant.

The banana sector, and in particular the United Fruit Company (the former name of Chiquita Brands International), has a long history of human rights violations and crimes against its workers. It is therefore important to briefly return to the past in order to better understand the current issues and to demonstrate how relevant Fairtrade bananas are.

Colombia, 1928. Workers go on strike because they want an agreement for better working conditions. They are not asking for unrealistic measures. The strike aims to result in, among other things, better wages, a hygienic workplace, a six-day working week and compensation for workplace accidents.

Several weeks pass without agreement and without negotiations. At the request of United Fruit Company (predecessor of Chiquita), the Colombian government deploys 700 army soldiers to suppress the strike. The government is forced to act in the interest of the company for economic reasons. UFC can simply suspend trade with important export markets for Colombian bananas (the US and the EU).

Around 1,500 banana workers gather with their families in the town square of Ciénaga after Sunday mass. They are waiting for a speech by the governor while troops position themselves on rooftops overlooking the square and block access roads. They open fire on a dense crowd of workers and their families.

In 2024, Chiquita was found responsible for eight murders committed by the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC). In the 1990s and early 2000s, the company financed the paramilitary group AUC, even after it had been designated a terrorist organisation by the United States in 2001.

The AUC abducts civilians in the middle of the night and leaves it to their relatives to find their mutilated bodies. The organisation murders people it suspects of having links with left-wing rebels, mainly trade unionists and banana workers.

According to testimonies by former Chiquita executives in Colombia, many of them were aware of the financial transactions to the AUC. Chiquita admitted the facts in 2007 and paid a 25 million dollar fine, but denied any knowledge of the ultimate use of the funds.

After a civil lawsuit filed by eight Colombian families whose relatives were murdered by the AUC, Chiquita was ordered to pay 38.3 million dollars in damages to the families.

The verdict does not bring the murdered people back, but it sets the record straight and places responsibility for the financing of terrorism where it belongs: with Chiquita.

Although Chiquita’s abuses took place years ago, banana workers are still confronted with similar misconduct, such as violence against striking workers, union suppression and mass dismissals.

Because of the enormous power imbalance between these multinationals (international, wealthy companies) and banana farmers, they can maintain poor working conditions with little consequence. Various reports show that Chiquita, like other major banana multinationals, still dismisses union activists and suppresses trade union activities.

That is precisely why we put on the Fairtrade banana costume. Gent Fair Trade consciously chooses a different message: fair trade and decent working conditions should not be an afterthought, but the norm.