Dole Food

Last edited by Charlie Cray on May 12, 2008 - 12:55pm

Company Snapshot:

Dole Food Company, Inc. is the world's largest producer of fruits and vegetables such as bananas and pineapples, and also produces cut flowers and nuts. Dole has a history of operating plantations in the US and across the globe, often creating poor working conditions and unsafe environmental conditions such as pesticide use, soil erosion and deforestation.

Global Fortune 500 position:

367

Ownership status:

Privately held

Number of employees worldwide:

45,000

Chief executive officer:

David H. Murdock

Website:

http://www.dole.com/

Tel:

818-879-6600

Fax:

818-879-6615

Corporate accountability

Tax issues:

A Guardian UK investigation found that Dole was one of several companies using Cayman Island tax shelters to avoid paying their taxes in the countries they produce and sell their products. On average, the companies avoided paying around 1/4 of their required taxes through the scheme.

Labor:

Of their approximately 45,000 workers, about 33% are covered under collective bargaining agreements. Dole has made repeated attempts to stifle union organizing in it's Latin American operations, often shutting down plantations when they become unionized.

Child labor

A Human Rights Watch report found that Dole employed workers as young as 11 at plantations that supply Dole with it's produce. From the report, "...of the forty-five children with whom Human Rights Watch spoke, thirty-two stated that, at some time, they had worked on plantations primarily producing for Dole and an additional three on plantations producing sporadically for Dole."

Sintrasplendor

Dole has unsuccessfully attempted to block unionization attempts by workers in it's subsidiary Splendor Flowers, in Columbia. Workers were harassed by police and military, assigned extra work on union organizing days, threatened with firings, and an attempt to block the official registration of the union was made, but ultimately failed.

Untrafragancia

Dole formed a company friendly union, in an attempt to disrupt the organization of an independent union, Untrafranganica, in it's Fragancia flower plantation. Company union members pressured Untrafrangancia workers to sign disaffiliation forms in an attempt to co-opt membership.

Environment and product safety:

DBCP

The company has a significant legal liability in regards to it's use of the pesticide, DBCP (1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane). DBCP is manufactured by Royal Dutch Shell and Dow Chemical and was banned by the EPA for use in the US in 1979. People worldwide are claiming over $42.3 billion in damages, about 85% of which are in Nicaragua. Male workers claim that exposure to DBCP has made them sterile. A jury awarded $2.5 Million in damages to 6 Nigaraguan workers in 2007.

Anti-competitive and consumer protection:

Recalling contaminated products

In 2005 the US FDA issued a nationwide health alert that prepackaged salads made by Dole contained the E. coli O157:H7 (E. coli) bacteria. There were no fatalities as a result of this oversight, but 11 people reported illnesses and two were hospitalized.

In 2007 Dole recalled all of its "Dole Hearts Delight" bagged salads when they were found to contain dangerous levels of E. coli bacteria.

In 2008 Dole recalled all cantaloupes marked as "product of Honduras" which were produced by a Dole grower, Agropecuaria Montelibano of San Lorenzo Valle, Honduras. These fruit were contaminated with Salmonella, an organism that can cause illness and fatality in the young, infirm and elderly.