99% of union workers from 296 banana plantation voted to strike in the municipalities of Apartadó, Carepa, Chigorodó and Turbo.
Guillermo Rivera Zapata, the president of Sintrainagro, the agricultural industry’s workers’ union, said that the strike’s start date would be finalized “at any moment”. The decision must first be ratified by the national assembly of delegates this Thursday.
Rivera Zapata said that 16,000 workers are on “maximum alert” but stressed that he will maintain an open dialogue with businessmen, who still hope to reach an agreement before the strike begins.
Sintrainagro recognized that the current international market is unstable at the moment and that the strike will affect the daily exportation of 234,000 boxes of bananas, which could lead to job losses.