Film: A Fleur De Peau

November 13th the documentary A Fleur De Peau; Un Bouquet de la Colombie was playing at my work, so a few of us went!
The film was on Colombia, and the flower industry. In Colombia there are at least a million different types of flowers, and almost just as many cultures, traditions, religions, and types of people. But because the flower industry is the biggest industry in Colombia, it is also the cause of a lot of exploitation of the workers. Since these people have to work flowers to put food on the table they are forced into working under ridiculous conditions, with very very little pay. The documentary tells the story of multiple different types of "flowers" (people with different perspectives).

I was so unaware of the situation before the film, and it reaaaally opened my eyes. Not only did I learn a lot about Colombia, but I learned that Canada is contributing to a big part of this problem too. Most of Canada's cut flowers (the ones you buy from the flower shop) are imported from Colombia. Because Canada is importing so many flowers from the big, powerful companies, it allows them to continue to be unethical and exploit the workers. There are smaller fair companies that do not exploit workers, but they are being crushed by these larger companies. Naturally, since the small companies have to close the workers from these companies have to get jobs somewhere, so they begin working for the large companies. This allows this companies to continue exploiting workers because no one can stop them.

Also, have you ever noticed the certification of ethical, fair companies that come with the flowers? Well they are often not true. The inspection that happens for the company to receive its "certificate" will often happen only once, when it is pre-planned with the company. This gives the company the opportunity to create the image of a good, fair company. Often what happens is that in the week up until the inspection workers are paid higher, so that during the inspection no one complains. Then as soon as the inspection is over and the company is "certified", wages and conditions return to normal.

It's is kind of shocking, isn't it? North American countries hold a kind of superiority because they are known to be ethical, and have fair values and companies. Yet here we are, one of the largest contributing factors to the exploitation of millions of people.

If you want more information on the film here is the official page: http://afleurdepeau2009.blogspot.ca/2011/01/journee-internationale-des-travailleurs.html

I believe the documentary is accessible on the site as well, though be forewarned it is in French and Spanish. I would recommend watching it, I really learned a lot!