Health, Work, and Capital: The Case of Women Workers in the Flower Agroindustry of Madrid, Colombia, 2019-2020

Abstract

In Colombia, the flower agroindustry is an export-oriented sector, with a high feminization of labor and precarious working conditions that affect health. A qualitative case study was carried out to analyze the effects of employment and working conditions on the health of women workers in Madrid (Cundinamarca), the main flower-producing municipality, focusing on the trajectories and perceptions of women. Based on the articulation of contributions from Marxist feminism and social medicine-collective health, labor-health and labor-capital relations were explored. An analytical model was also developed on the association between frequent health problems and body conditions; emotional conditions and work practices; and between the working conditions at each production stage and employment conditions required to produce flowers. Seven recurring health problems were identified as suffered collectively, which are related to the lack of protective elements and inadequate infrastructure, the polyvalence of tasks, the extension of the working hours, and the pressures to increase the pace of production. It is shown that the tendency to reduce the cost of producing flowers through savings in salaries of personnel needed to cover the various tasks, the extension of working hours without remuneration or compensation and savings in infrastructure and protective equipment are mechanisms of surplus production, which allow entrepreneurs to accumulate profits at the expense of the health of those who work.