Fyffes is to face an Ethical Trading Initiative disciplinary committee in the next few weeks in response to claims of worker abuse in its supply chain.
If found to have broken the ETI’s membership code of conduct, Fyffes could have its membership of the organisation suspended.
The Irish fruit giant has denied allegations of labour rights violations in southern Honduras. However, a complaint received by the ETI in April 2016 from the International Union of Food Workers and NGO Banana Link triggered a formal complaints process. Mediation talks between the parties also proved unsuccessful.
Fyffes was subsequently asked to prepare a remediation plan, which the executive director of ETI said failed to fully address the issues raised.
The fruit company has now requested to present the dispute to a disciplinary committee drawn from the ETI board, rather than present an action plan, both of which are permitted in the ETI’s disciplinary procedures.
A spokeswoman for the ETI suggested Fyffes may have taken this decision because the operations implicated in the initial complaint have already been closed down, thus rendering an action plan unnecessary.
“We want to make sure that whatever the process is, we’re trying to get the best outcome for workers,” she said.
Jacqui Mackay, national co-ordinator at Banana Link, said: “We have been shocked by the utter disregard shown by Fyffes for both the complaint process and for the ETI base code itself. It has failed to ensure the freedom of workers to join a union and collectively bargain; it has failed to ensure workers earn anything near a living wage; it has failed to ensure the safety of workers.
“We believe it is imperative that Fyffes is suspended from the ETI and only readmitted once it has demonstrated a robust commitment to the ETI base code and respect for workers rights along global supply chains.”
Fyffes declined to comment on the proceedings.
A €751m (£639m) takeover of the business by Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation was given the green light by the European Commission’s competition authority last week.
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