flowers of irony

With flowers the traditional Mother's Day gift, War on Want reports that pesticides on imported flowers from Colombia and Kenya were leaving workers there with skin lesions, allergies, eye problems, fainting, headaches and asthma. Some of the chemicals were alleged to cause miscarriages and malformations. Colombian flower workers - 65 per cent of whom are women - are being paid 50p an hour. In Kenya, the wage is £23 a month. Overtime is compulsory and sexual harassment is widespread.