5 – No guarantee of rights
The ITUC Global Rights Index

Honduras

In practice

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Agro-industrial union accuses fruit company of understaffing01-02-2021

In February 2021, members of the Union of Agro-industrial and Similar Workers (STAS) denounced the decision by transnational fruit company Fyffes to hire no additional staff. Fyffes justified the hiring freeze due to a “lack of market” (demand for fruit) impacted by COVID-19. But the affected union affiliates claim that this is nothing more than anti-union repression orchestrated by the national administration of the company and that the company is following international orders to the letter.
Unionists argue that they have evidence from plantations and villages, where unionised workers are identified and blacklisted. STAS contacted workers, who expressed the following: “They are exploiting us, in the nine hours that we work we do four jobs. We are doing the work of four people, we tear out guides, clean holes, centre the hose and lower the plate, we do this in two batches.”

Beverage industry companies continue worker abuses01-11-2020

In November 2020, the IUF-affiliated Union of the Beverage and Allied Industries (STIBYS) called on the Ministry of Labour to intervene to stop AB InBev-owned company, Cervecería Hondureña, in their continued abuses of employees’ rights. In a letter to Deputy Labour Minister Olvin Villalobos, the union demanded payment of wages to the more than 200 workers over the age of 60 or with pre-existing health problems who are unable to work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as most of these workers have not been paid since March. STIBYS also denounced that the company had replaced 800 permanent worker positions with 800 outsourced worker positions supplied by “labour trafficking” companies set up by AB InBev to breach the collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
agreement and make employment precarious. The company also breached a clause in the collective agreement that obliges it to respect the professional careers of its employees by not filling vacant positions with temporary workers. On top of this, the management summoned the STIBYS board of directors on 8 October 2020 to communicate the sanctions they intended to impose on some of its members for organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. protest actions in front of the company’s premises.

Hospital union protests against wage arrears 01-09-2020

In September 2020, the San Felipe Hospital Workers’ Union and the Union of the Secretariat of Infrastructure and Public Services called for a protest against new anti-worker measures imposed by the government and the failure to pay back wages in violation of the collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
agreement. The unions denounced the government’s failure to pay the salaries owed to employees of the National Registry of Persons (RNP) since March 2020 and the payment of a salary adjustment for state secretariats.

New penal code a threat to human rights25-06-2020

On 25 June 2020, the new penal code came into force, which poses a clear threat to basic human rights, including the right to protest and the protection of women from crimes of male violence. Honduran trade union organisations, such as CGT, CTH and CUTH, denounced the serious attack on trade union freedom posed by some provisions (contained in articles 553, 554, 573, 574, 587, 588 and 589) that criminalise and prosecute social protest, specifically the rights of association, assembly and demonstration.

National Agrarian Institute workers protest unpaid wages11-06-2020

Clause 49 of the collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
agreement signed between the National Agrarian Institute (INA) and the INA Workers’ Union (Sitraina) establishes the 20th of each month as the deadline for the payment of wages. But after 23 days of anxious waiting and in the face of the ambiguity shown by the employers, on 11 June 2020 Sitraina decided to mobilise at national level. The union demanded the payment of the salary for the month of May and denounced the clear violation of the collective contract.

Unions attacked during COVID-19 pandemic 01-05-2020

Until May 2020, the Honduran government’s Secretary of Labour and Social Security (STSS) kept all its regional offices and the central office closed due to the threat of COVID-19. Because of these closures, trade unions were unable to file any complaints related to workplace safety or labour rights violations. It is presumed that 500,000 jobs were lost or suspended during the pandemic, in addition to the more than 2.5 million unemployed in the country.
In addition to the initial rise in unemployment, the government also elected to suspend constitutional guarantees under decree PCM-021-2020. Decree PCM-021-2020 allows employers to request work suspensions with the approval of the Ministry of Labour. Employers may use this instrument to request suspensions of up to four months for employment contracts, during which time workers are not paid. In the maquila industry alone, more than 70,000 workers had their work contracts suspended, and thousands of Honduran families have faced extreme economic hardship.

Death threats against independent union president01-04-2020

In April 2020, the Federación de Sindicatos de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria (FESTAGRO) denounced death threats and intimidation received by the president of the Sindicato de Trabajadores de Servicios Municipales, Comunales y Afines (SITRASEMCA), Isela Juárez. The intimidation took place near Isela’s home, putting her physical safety and that of her family at risk. SITRASEMCA board members and members of SITRASEMCA have been constantly attacked and persecuted for organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. as an independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

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Unionised workers stripped of work contacts01-03-2020
Trade unionist murdered06-11-2019

On 16 November 2019, two men shot and killed Jorge Alberto Acosta in a billiard parlor just four blocks from his house in La Lima, Cortes, Honduras. Jorge, 62, was a union leader for SITRATERCO, the oldest union in the country, which represents Chiquita banana workers. 
In early 2018, banana workers held a 77-day strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
after Chiquita illegally relocated its medical centre – which had provided full healthcare to working families for over 60 years – to a far-off location and replaced it with an expensive, low-grade private medical centre. Workers on the picket line were met with live bullets from military police and mass layoffs from Chiquita. 
After the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
ended, in April 2018 Jorge and his fellow trade unionists began receiving death threats, and were subject to physical attacks, surveillance and break-ins. They repeatedly denounced these threats to government officials, who are obliged to investigate and provide adequate protective measures for threatened union leaders — but never did.

Union leaders unfairly dismissed07-08-2019

On 31 July, the Azucarera del Norte S.A. (AZUNOSA) sugar company verbally and unfairly dismissed leaders of the SITIAMASH (Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Industria del Azúcar, Mieles, Alcoholes y Similares de Honduras) union at the sugar mill. Gustavo Alberto Quiroz Baquedano, Maynor José Ponce García, Misael Jiménez Román, Magdaleno Benítez, Geovani Pineda, Nelly Puerto, Rubén Darío Umanzor, representatives of the SITIAMASH union at AZUNOSA, were dismissed without prior notice and for no reason other than the fact that they were union leaders.

Anti-union dismissals at Fyffes31-07-2019

A total of 43 workers have been left jobless due to the anti-union repression at the Honduran operations of the multinational fruit company Fyffes (Sol Group/SURAGROH/Melon Export). The workers had been involved in the campaign being led by agribusiness union STAS (Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria y Similares) in melon plantations since 2016. The 43 employees and their families have been hit by serious economic, health and educational difficulties since being excluded from employment by Fyffes.

Textile factory shut down to do away with the trade union26-06-2019

In June, STAR S.A., based in El Progreso and owned by Gildan Activewear, announced the closure of its textile factory. The workers’ union at the company, SITRASTAR, filed a complaint stating that the plant closure was driven by Gildan’s bid to do away with the union and the collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
agreement (CBA), which was valid until December 2021.

Three SITRASTAR leaders, including two of its presidents, were forced to leave the country as a result of the death threats and persecution they were facing. The union has opposed the attempt to close the business and has expressed its determination to fight this anti-union measure. STAR was the first Gildan plant to sign a CBA in Honduras and had good working conditions under the agreement, which the workers and management have been renegotiating for over ten years.

Violent repression of health and education workers’ protests 13-06-2019

Security forces responded violently to the mass protests staged in early June by education and health workers following the Honduran parliament’s decision to privatise education and public health services. The situation prompted the World Medical Association to call on the Honduran president to immediately stop the use of violence against the demonstrators and to guarantee the right to protest.

Death threats against COLPROSUMAH president01-06-2019

Education International (EI) reminded the Honduran government that it is responsible for the safety and physical integrity of Roberto Trochez, president of COLPROSUMAH (Colegio Profesional de Superación Magisterial Hondureño) and member of the Regional Committee of Education International in Latin America. Trochez has been receiving death threats related to his work and leadership in the campaign to oppose the privatisation measures being taken by the Honduran authorities. He is also the victim of false accusations that have been used as a pretext for interfering in the organisation’s affairs. 

Anti-union dismissals at Jaremar Group11-02-2019

Agribusiness workers’ union STAS (Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria y Similares) notified the Honduran authorities about the labour disputes at Jaremar Group companies Agromeza and Agroguay.

In February, the management terminated the contracts of nine workers who had joined the union, in a clear act of anti-union repression, and threatened to fire more.

The workers had organised back in 2017 but have repeatedly been denied the right to collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
. The lack of a collective agreement with an independent trade union at the companies is contributing to the climate of impunity. The Labour and Social Security Ministry has failed to appoint mediators and conciliators to resolve the disputes and to provide a suitable response based on the relevant legislation.

Intimidation campaign against journalist Nina Lakhani for denouncing corruption in the murder case of indigenous activist Berta Caceres26-09-2018

Journalist Nina Lakhani, a member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), in the UK, faced a campaign of intimidation following her coverage of a notorious murder trial in Honduras. Nina Lakhani is a freelance investigative journalist who has been reporting on Latin American stories for the last five years. Based in Mexico, Lakhani moved to Tegucigalpa to report on the murder of Honduran indigenous activist Berta Caceres, killed in March 2016 after opposing a hydroelectric dam project on the Gualcarque River, an area indigenous communities consider to be sacred.

The journalist covered the news about the eight men charged with the murder and the delay in the start of the trial, after the judges were formally accused of staging a cover-up and abusing their authority. After publishing her second piece on the case, in which she reported on the criminal network being protected by the Honduran judicial system, Lakhani was subjected to a smear campaign, accusing her of participating in drug-trafficking and violent activities. This intimidation and smear campaign is clearly aimed at frightening the journalist and forcing her to leave the country and, therefore, silencing her reporting. National and international trade unions and global organisations defending freedom of the press urged the state to provide the journalist with protection and to ensure that she is able to work freely.

Violence against journalists simply doing their work18-09-2018

On 15 September 2018, Honduran journalists and camera operators staged a protest in front of the National Human Rights Commission in Honduras (CONADEH) and filed a complaint regarding the wave of violence faced by journalists in the exercise of their profession. The workers called on the state agency to address the need for human rights guarantees and protection, and to defend the right to freedom of expression. Journalists are being confronted with assaults, threats and acts of intimidation as they cover the country’s most controversial events, in particular the 2017 elections and, in 2018, the formation of a new government, amid a climate of polarisation and extreme division. The government harshly repressed the demonstrations and persisted in its use of indiscriminate violence against journalists.

Journalist Engel Padilla violently attacked whilst doing his job 23-07-2018

Several anti-riot police officers attacked, detained and damaged the filming equipment of Canal 11 cameraman and journalist Engel Padilla, who was covering a protest in the San Miguel neighbourhood of Tegucigalpa. A colleague who was also present managed to use her mobile phone to film the moment when several officers were surrounding and attacking the cameraman.

Engel Padilla was taken to the police station in San Miguel, where he was held for three hours and charged with “vandalism”. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urged the Honduran authorities to ensure that a serious investigation is conducted into the matter, to identify those responsible, and that all necessary action is taken.

Trade union leader Isela Juárez intimidated for defending labour rights 22-03-2018

In March 2018, union leader Isela Juárez, president of municipal workers’ union SITRASEMCA (Unión de Trabajadores de los Servicios Municipales, Comunes y Afines), was chased at high-speed by two individuals on a motorcycle, until she was finally able to take refuge inside the Municipal Palace of San Pedro Sula. Some months before, the union leader had received death threats for her activism in defence of workers’ rights, making her fear for her life and her safety. Honduras has been experiencing a constant rise in anti-union violence over recent years, and yet the state has taken no action to deal with it. The United States government, meanwhile, has refused to consider the complaints of anti-union violence presented by the AFL-CIO and Guatemala, and Honduran trade unions, within the framework of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

Labour Secretariat refuses to recognise labour and trade union rights of temporary workers at Fyffes11-03-2018

In November 2018, the Secretariat of State for Labour and Social Security ruled, through an administrative decision, that seasonal workers employed on the melon plantations of the Fyffes-Sumitomo corporation in Honduras were not entitled to employee benefits, social security, or to form or join a trade union. Agricultural workers’ union STAS (Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria y Similares) denounced the violation of the labour and trade union rights enshrined in national laws and the international conventions signed by the country, as well as the government’s collusion in this decision to favour the interests of the company. The multinational was excluded, in 2017, from the UK-based Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), due to repeated reports of violations at melon and pineapple plantations in Honduras and Costa Rica. Fyffes’ Honduran subsidiaries, Suragroh and Melón Export SA (Melexsa), have for years been accused by Honduran trade unions and Rel-UITA – the regional secretariat for Latin American of the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) – of refusing to comply with workers’ labour rights, failing to ensure decent working conditions, health and safety standards and to guarantee and respect freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
. The STAS filed a complaint with the Supreme Court to try to stop the adverse effects on the fruit plantation workers and seasonal workers in general.

EPZ union leader receives death threats 28-02-2018

In February 2018, Lino Hernández, leader of SitraStar (Sindicato de Trabajadores de Star), which represents employees at the EPZ export processing zone A special industrial area in a country where imported materials are processed before being re-exported. Designed to attract mostly foreign investors by offering incentives such as exemptions from certain trade barriers, taxes, business regulations, and/or labour laws. owned by multinational Gildan, resigned from his post and from the union after he and his family received death threats and suffered acts of intimidation. Lino Hernández had been fighting for labour rights and the negotiation of a collective agreement at Gildan’s factories.

Tela RailRoad Co. refuses to recognise collective agreement 31-12-2017

The Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Tela RailRoad Company (SITRATERCO) reported that banana company Chiquita Honduras and the government are promoting ruthless strategies aimed at eradicating the trade union. It is within this climate that the multinational is refusing to respect the clauses of the collective agreement regarding medical care for its 2080 employees. The controversy arose in December 2017, when Chiquita Honduras, the owner of the plantations employing the workers concerned, decided to suspend the medical care provided for decades in La Lima, Cortés, forcing the workers to transfer to private clinics in San Pedro Sula.

SitraStar president threatened and harassed 31-12-2017

The executive of the Sindicato de Trabajadores de Star (SitraStar) reported that the union’s president, Waldin Banegas, was subjected to threats, as well as being harassed, persecuted and kept under surveillance at the Star EPZ export processing zone A special industrial area in a country where imported materials are processed before being re-exported. Designed to attract mostly foreign investors by offering incentives such as exemptions from certain trade barriers, taxes, business regulations, and/or labour laws. factory and at home. The trade union also denounced that the owner of the Zip El Porvenir Industrial Park, Nicolás Chain, had publicly expressed his anti-union position.

Anti-union dismissals at Agroguay 04-11-2017

On 9 October 2017, 120 employees of Agroguay, part of the Jaremar Group, organised a branch of the agribusiness workers’ union STAS (Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria y Similares) in Campo Buena Vista and Campo Naranjo Chino, but the company refused to recognise it. As of 21 October, it launched a wave of tough anti-union reprisals, dismissing 19 unionised workers. By 4 November 2017, the company had dismissed a total of 98 workers.

Unionised workers faced with threats of dismissal and other anti-union practices at Suragroh and Melexsa16-10-2017

At the beginning of October 2017, the agribusiness workers’ union STAS (Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria y Similares) denounced the intimidation campaign being waged by Suragroh and Melexsa to instil fear in its members. The companies mobilised a group of people, most of whom were not employees at the company, to demonstrate against the union in front of the offices of the Regional Labour Secretariat in Choluteca. Various representatives from the two companies travelled to the villages where the union members live to warn them that if they did not take part in the anti-union demonstrations they would not be hired during future harvests.

Intransigence in collective negotiation at Cervecería Hondureña 31-07-2017

In July 2017, the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Industria de Bebida y Similares (STIBYS) denounced the intransigent position taken by Cervecería Hondureña in the collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
process. The most crucial points under discussion included the outsourcing outsourcing See contracting-out of almost 600 permanent posts, the company’s unwillingness to deduct at source the trade union dues of over 100 pre-sales employees – out of over 200 working for the company across the country – and the refusal to negotiate their working conditions, arguing that they hold positions of trust. The workers also complained that they had not received a pay increase over the last three years and that the company was refusing to negotiate a retroactive increase backdated to the start of the negotiations.

Union busting at Honduran Social Security Institute 07-07-2017

On 7 July 2017, the Sindicato de Trabajadores del Instituto Hondureño de Seguridad Social (SITRAIHSS) denounced the Financial Control Committee to the National Human Rights Commission (CONADEH), calling on it to investigate the violations of its members’ human rights. The complaint presented by SITRAIHSS establishes that the government’s policy is to destroy trade union organisations and to outsource services, through the privatisation of institutions and the violation of labour rights.

It provides as an example the decision announced during the second half of May by the IHSS Financial Control Committee to reorganise the security and surveillance project at national level. The decision, implemented on 1 July, was rejected by the trade union organisation both in direct talks and in writing. More than 200 of its members working in the internal security and surveillance division were dismissed on 30 June 2017.

The trade union also denounced that the Financial Control Committee had violated its members’ labour rights by refusing to recognise the minimum wage review for the years 2014 and 2015, and that overtime had not been paid for years.

Fyffes promotes formation of parallel unions30-06-2017

The agribusiness workers’ union STAS (Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria y Similares) received news that, on 2 and 30 June 2017, a group of workers from Suragroh and another from Melexsa, subsidiaries of the Irish multinational Fyffes, had presented the Labour Secretariat in Tegucigalpa with a request to form two trade unions: Sitrasuragroh and Sitramelexsa. STAS received information indicating that both unions were being promoted by the administrative staff at the two companies, with their backing, in a bid to establish parallel negotiations on pay and working conditions and prevent genuine collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
.

Collective agreement violated at the INA 21-06-2017

In June 2017, members of the trade union representing employees at the National Agrarian Institute (INA) protested against the breach of the collective agreement, demanding the payment of wage arrears. The union’s president, Ramón Bulnes, indicated that the payments pending included the wages from June and the extra month’s salary payable at Christmas. He added that in the past workers had been left without pay for as long as three months.

Violence against trade union leaders in various sectors 01-05-2017

On 1 May 2017, an increase was reported in the number of assaults and threats suffered by trade unionists in Honduras during 2017. Isela Juárez Jiménez, president of the public employees’ union SITRASEMCA, reported that an attempt had been made to abduct her a few days before. Trade union leaders Nelson Núñez, from the agribusiness workers’ federation DESTAGRO (Federación de Sindicatos de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria) and Miguel Ángel López, from the union of national electricity company workers STENEE (Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica) reported that they were being followed and had received death threats.

Violence against agribusiness trade union leaders 13-04-2017

On 13 April 2017, Moisés Sánchez, a trade union leader with the agribusiness workers’ union STAS (Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria y Similares), was abducted, beaten and threatened with murder if he continued with his trade union work. His brother, Misael Sánchez, was also assaulted and seriously injured. Moisés Sánchez was calling for better employment conditions for employees of Fyffes. The two men were attacked on leaving the trade union office in the department of Choluteca. Misael Sánchez received a machete wound on his face and had to be kept in hospital for four days. Moisés was beaten for almost an hour and his attackers threatened to kill him if he carried on helping workers in the melon sector to secure respect for their rights through the trade union.

Police repression puts an end to strike at Chiquita Honduras 10-03-2017

Employees of the US-based multinational Chiquita Honduras decided to launch strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
action on 26 December 2017 in protest at the company’s failure to comply with the terms of the collective agreement. The strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
lasted for 74 days, after which the company and the government forced the employees to return to work, without any response to their grievances. The repression began on 9 March 2018, when, at five in the morning, at least 300 police officers and military personnel stormed the banana plantations were the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
was being held, using violence against at least 400 workers gathered at the exit of the banana plantations in La Lima, next to the San José neighbourhood. Workers reported that the police used real ammunition and fired over a hundred tear gas grenades. They also denounced that several of the workers detained were tortured and some of their belongings were stolen. Other reprisals taken by Chiquita Honduras include the dismissal of 105 workers and the issue of 34 warrants for the arrest of the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
leaders.

Peasant farmers systematically persecuted by agribusiness corporation Dinant10-03-2017

Peasant farmers in Valle del Bajo Aguán denounced attacks, killings and abuses at the hands of the private security forces employed by the Dinant Corporation, the owner of large-scale palm oil plantations in the north of the country. The corporation is receiving financing from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank, which has prompted the farmers to sue the international organisation.

The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for the murders, torture, assaults, beatings, trespassing, unjust enrichment and other acts of aggression committed by the company as part of a systematic campaign of persecution to intimidate the small farmers and force them to sign over rights to the land that Dinant wants to control.

The farmers have lodged complaints with international human rights organisations and have filed proceedings with courts in Honduras. The owner of the Dinant Corporation, Miguel Facussé Barjum, has, in addition, been accused of having links with drug trafficking organisations and allowing his property to be used as a transit point for planes carrying drugs.

Trade union rights violations by multinational Fyffes16-02-2017

The Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria y Similares (STAS) denounced the persistence, throughout 2016, of antiunion dismissals, blacklisting and death threats at the hands of the multinational Fyffes. A new case was registered on 16 February 2017, when unionised security guards were dismissed from its plantations.

In addition, the branch leaders of the union were attacked and threatened by members of the company’s private security force, in an attempt to make them leave the union. Its leaders, Nelson Núñez and Patricia Riera, received anonymous death threats. Several organisations, including Britain’s General Union, GMB, have been pressing the multinational to improve working conditions at the plantations and to put an end to the systematic persecution of trade unionists.

Unfair dismissals and coercion of trade unionists at National Agricultural University01-12-2016

In December 2016, 28 lecturers were unfairly dismissed at the National Agricultural University (UNA) in the city of Catacamas, in the department of Olancho, in the east of Honduras. In addition to these dismissals, teachers taking positions against the administration of rector Marlon Escoto faced criminal proceedings.

The rector of the National Agricultural University is also the Education Minister. Employees have denounced that the rector is in breach of the University’s statutes as, to be eligible for election, he should have taught there within the last three years, which he has not done. Moreover, a rector can only be re-elected once, and he had already served two terms. The teachers who were dismissed had exposed these irregularities and it is thought that they were sacked in retaliation for these criticisms.

A group of teachers from the UNA has filed reports to the human rights NGO COFADEH, documenting the acts of intimidation and violations of trade union protection and labour rights. The report denounces, for example, unfair dismissals, compulsory unpaid overtime at night or during weekends, and pressure on trade unionists to withdraw from their organisation.

Parallel trade unions, discriminatory treatment and antiunion dismissals at Azucarera del Norte S.A. (AZUNOSA)01-12-2016

In June 2016, the sugar producing company Azucarera del Norte S.A. (AZUNOSA), a subsidiary of the British multinational SABMiller, launched a campaign of discrimination, through its subcontractors, SURCO, ARAME and SODEMEM, against members of the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria y Similares (STAS).

In 2016, the company withdrew benefits from STAS members, such as bonuses and holidays, whilst leaving them in place for the workers belonging to a parallel union serving the company’s interests. Although SURCO and ARAME both signed collective agreements, neither of them have complied with the terms set out in them. The workers have reported that the companies deploy the same discriminatory strategy when providing protective gear.

On 30 November 2016, SURCO unfairly dismissed several members and leaders of the STAS, including Jorge Luis Alas, secretary of agricultural and campesino affairs on the Central Executive Board of the STAS, despite him being legally protected against dismissal as a trade union leader. According to the workers, the dismissals were made in retaliation for their membership of the union.

The STAS has been trying to visit the company with an inspector for the last three years to look into the violations and systematic anti-union practices, but has been categorically denied access.

Two peasant movement leaders killed21-11-2016

The peasant movement Movimiento Unificado Campesino del Aguán (MUCA), affiliated to the Confederación Unitaria de Trabajadores de Honduras (CUTH), is one of the members of the network formed in 2014 to tackle impunity and to document and combat the growing violence and threats against trade union activists.

On 18 October 2016, the movement’s president, José Ángel Flores, and a MUCA activist, Silmer Dionisio George, were shot dead by four unknown assailants on leaving a meeting they had been attending in the department of Colón, in the north of Honduras. Flores had been granted precautionary measures by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in May 2014, and both men had been assigned police protection.

These murders are part of a pattern of violence against human rights defenders in Honduras and are rooted in the agrarian dispute in the Aguán Valley. Flores had left his family a letter with the names of his murderers. Thanks to this information, it was revealed that the leader of the peasant movement and his colleague were murdered by a criminal cell run by paramilitaries and allegedly headed by fugitive Celio Rodríguez, former president of La Confianza settlement.

On 21 November 2016, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, through the Violent Murders Unit of Bajo Aguán (UMVIBA), filed charges against Osvin Nahún Caballero Santamaría and Wilmer Giovanni Fuentes as suspected perpetrators of the crime. Various human rights groups, NGOs and the international community have urged the authorities to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

Death threats targeting trade union leader at public electricity company25-10-2016

In October 2016, Miguel Lόpez, leader of the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica (STENEE), who has been receiving death threats, reported that despite taking all manner of precautions, a black motorbike had followed him on two occasions during that week, and had also followed his wife. López lives and works in Tocoa, Colόn, where several MUCA leaders have been killed.

Lenca indigenous community member assaulted for opposing hydropower project 15-07-2016

On 15 July 2016, Martín Gómez from the Lenca indigenous community was attacked with stones and threatened by a supporter of the ruling Partido Nacional (PN) in Azacualpa, in the department of La Paz, for opposing the construction of Los Encinos hydroelectric dam.

Gómez, a member of the Lenca Indigenous Movement of La Paz (MILPAH), managed to escape from his aggressors, one of whom was sentenced to eight months in jail. On his release, he was served a restraining order, prohibiting him from approaching Gómez. MILPAH, which filed a demand for the recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. of its ancestral lands in 2010, is opposing Los Encinos dam, owned by investment company Inversiones Encinos S.A., as it poses a threat to the Lenca people’s land and water resources.

Community leader and environmental defender murdered06-07-2016

On 6 July 2016, Lesbia Yaneth Urquía Urquía, a community leader and member of the COPINH (Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras) was abducted and murdered by unknown assailants. Her body was found near the municipal dump in Marcala.

Urquía, like the COPINH leader Berta Cáceres, murdered earlier in the year, was opposed to the concession and privatisation of the rivers in La Paz department and had been fighting against the ever-growing number of hydroelectric projects in Honduras. Urquía was directly involved in the fight against the construction of the “Aurora I” hydroelectric dam, a project headed by a company owned by the leader of the Partido Nacional and vice president of the Congress, Gladys Aurora López, and her husband.

COPINH has accused the Honduran government, the president of the Partido Nacional and her husband of being responsible for the murder. Police sources, however, claim that the crime may be linked to a family dispute or an extortion attempt, a hypothesis rejected by Urquía’s colleagues.

The United Nations and various international organisations have condemned the murder and have urged the Honduran authorities to fully investigate the crime and to bring those who ordered and perpetrated it to justice.

Persecution of trade union at Finca Tropical following signing of collective agreement01-06-2016

In June 2016, the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria y Similares (STAS) denounced that a year after having signed a collective agreement with Finca Tropical, the company had not respected the commitments undertaken and had launched an offensive against the workers affiliated to the trade union organisation. The union’s executive and bargaining committee had been dismissed and the remaining members had decided to keep a low profile to avoid losing their jobs.

In February 2016, Finca Tropical, which supplies the multinational Chiquita Brands, had already been ordered by the Public Prosecutor’s Office to pay a 25,000-lempira fine (US$1,111) imposed by the Department of Labour. Eighty per cent of the fine corresponded to its failure to recognise the STAS and the rest to its non payment of overtime.

For the workers, the company signed the collective agreement to be able to obtain the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal. The seal was withdrawn from the company following the trade union’s reports of labour rights violations. The STAS applied to the Department of Labour for mediation mediation A process halfway between conciliation and arbitration, in mediation a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in reaching a settlement to an industrial dispute by suggesting possible, non-binding solutions.

See arbitration, conciliation
to seek an explanation from the company as to why it had not fulfilled the terms of the collective agreement.

SITRAINA denounces labour and trade union rights violations23-05-2016

Between 2014 and 2016, the Honduran government cut the budget of the National Agrarian Institute, the INA, seriously affecting the workers’ union SITRAINA. The cuts have led to the non-payment of annual leave (2013-2016) and delays in the payment of wages. In addition, in June 2016, the Institute sought to cut its staff by 50 per cent, forcing those made redundant to accept reduced and deferred payments.

Those agreeing to a five-year deferral of their payments received a guarantee that their redundancy would be paid in full whilst those demanding compliance with the terms of the collective agreement were paid only 70 per cent of the total. Workers are being pressured to accept reduced and deferred payments.

The trade union filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission, CONADEH, and the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights, accusing the INA of committing human rights violations and coercing employees to relinquish, alter and reduce their labour rights. It also accused the institute of discriminatory practices, abusing its authority, and non-compliance with its obligations vis-à-vis public servants.

Murder of COPINH founder Berta Cáceres03-03-2016

On 3 March 2016, Berta Cáceres, founder of COPINH (Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras) and winner of the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize for her defence of the environment, was murdered by armed men at her home in La Esperanza, department of Intibucá, in the west of Honduras. The crime took place in spite of the precautionary measures ordered to protect her by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

The international community pressed the government to investigate the case. According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, seven suspects were detained. Two of them are connected to Desarrollos Energéticos SA (DESA), the Honduran company building the Agua Zarca dam, which had met with strong opposition from Berta Cáceres and the COPINH. The environment defender headed a successful campaign against the project, which had been launched without adequate consultation of the local indigenous communities.

Sergio Ramón Rodríguez, one of the men arrested, was working as an engineer on the Agua Zarca project. Douglas Geovanny Bustillo, a retired military officer and former head of security for DESA, was also arrested. Other detainees included Mariano Díaz Chávez and Edison Atilio Duarte Mesa, a serving member of the armed forces and a former military officer.

Anti-union practices at Fyffes plantations15-01-2016

In January 2016, the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria y Similares (STAS) notified the employer that a branch union had been formed at Sur Agrícola de Honduras SA (Suragroh), one of Fyffes’ three subsidiaries in Honduras. It also submitted a list of demands for the negotiation of a collective agreement.

Within less than 24 hours, the multinational met with the members of the executive and made them withdraw from the union. Following a second failed attempt, in April, the STAS formed another branch, on this occasion at Melon Export SA (Melexsa).

The company’s response was even more brutal. A technical advisor from the STAS reported that the company dismissed 21 workers, including the union leaders who, moreover, had permanent contracts, before they even had time to notify the employer that a union had been formed.

The trade union did not give in and a new executive committee was elected and investigations were launched into the labour rights violations underway. After gathering all the evidence, 92 workers, male and female, decided to take the company to court over the non-payment of benefits owed to them.

The STAS branch union has denounced that blacklists have been drawn up, creating fears that none of Fyffes’ three subsidiaries will hire people linked to the union.

The company also takes advantage of the temporary nature of the work to put pressure on the women workers. The working days are extremely long and the labourers receive no overtime pay or holiday entitlement. Nor do they receive seniority pay or contribute to the social security system.

There are women who have been working on the melon farms for 25 years or more and those who have reached retirement age but are still working. They know they will never receive a pension or the benefits they are due. Others have been sacked for being pregnant or after suffering an injury at work.

The health and safety conditions are also very poor. In December 2015, around 100 women suffered toxic poisoning due to a combination of herbicide and chlorine being used on an adjacent plot of land.

University trade union leader killed17-06-2015

On 17 June 2015, Héctor Orlando Martínez, president of Branch 6 of the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Universidad Autónoma de Honduras (SITRAUNAH) at the Pacific Coast Regional University Centre (CURLP-UNAH) in the city of Choluteca, was killed.

The trade unionist was killed on his way home from work at the university. According to the reports, he was attacked by two individuals on a motorbike who fired at his vehicle and shot him 12 times. The incident reportedly took place after a human rights commission had begun investigating the complaints filed by Héctor Orlando Martínez.

On 19 May 2015, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) had requested that precautionary measures be taken to protect Héctor Orlando Martínez and his family in light of the threats and acts of intimidation he was being subjected to as a direct result of his activities as a SITRAUNAH representative.

Forced disappearance of university trade union leader08-04-2015

Donatilo Jiménez Euceda, former president of branch three of the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (SITRAUNAH) disappeared on 8 April 2015 whilst working at the CURLA University (Centro Universitario Regional Litoral Atlántico) in La Ceiba. The trade unionist was in charge of organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. the coming union elections to be held by SITRAUNAH.

Anti-union dismissals at Petralex31-03-2015

Petralex is a garment factory located in the Búfalo export processing zone export processing zone A special industrial area in a country where imported materials are processed before being re-exported. Designed to attract mostly foreign investors by offering incentives such as exemptions from certain trade barriers, taxes, business regulations, and/or labour laws. on the outskirts of the industrial park in San Pedro Sula. On 2 March 2015, the company launched an offensive against the recently elected trade union representatives, offering them a sum of money up to three times higher than the severance pay established by law, in exchange for their resignations.

Five representatives of the local union local union A local branch of a higher-level trade union such as a national union. , Sitrapetralex, rejected the company’s offer and were instantly dismissed. One of them accepted the offer when the company threatened to dismiss his sister. Sitrapetralex and Petralex failed to reach an agreement at a meeting called by the labour authority on 24 March.

The company had also dismissed trade union representatives in June, July and August 2007, and January 2008. At least 180 trade union members were dismissed between the year 2007 and 2008.

The government of Honduras holds consultations31-03-2015

The government of Honduras holds consultations but ultimately makes its own decisions, without taking on board the contributions made by trade union organisations.

Between 2014 and March 2015, the judiciary continued to show a bias against workers and to collude with the executive branch. The courts ruled against the workers in cases where trade unionists had been detained without charges. They also failed to order the reinstatement of unfairly dismissed unionised employees from the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH), the national telecommunications company Hondutel and the municipal councils of Danlí and Comayagua.

Other violations:

Violations of the rights of migrant children and teenagers from Honduras.
Between October 2013 and September 2014, over 18,000 unaccompanied Honduran minors were detained in the United States. In June 2014, there were over 13,000 Honduran children in U.S. detention centres. The Honduran state responded to the problem in July 2014 by declaring a humanitarian emergency, prioritising national and international cooperation to seek an adequate solution. The recently established National Directorate for Children, Adolescents and the Family (DINAF) was charged with the task of providing support and protection for the children and families in the process of being repatriated and reintegrated. Social organisations have, however, drawn attention to the weakness of the institutions and the inadequacy of the state’s response to this problem.

Hazardous working conditions of some 2,000 seafood divers in La Mosquitia.
The workers live in extreme poverty and isolation. They work under abusive conditions and with a total lack of state supervision. In addition, the healthcare facilities in the area are not equipped with a hyperbaric chamber to treat divers affected by decompression, which, combined with the total absence of rehabilitation services, results in permanent disabilities or deaths, year after year.

Precarious working conditions in the maquilas.
The year 2014 saw no improvement in the working conditions in the maquilas, where the majority of the employees are women, who perform repetitive tasks in awkward positions for 12 hours a day. They do not, moreover, have access to adequate health care or treatment for the ailments developed as a result of their work.

Teachers suspended for attending a meeting03-11-2014

The Education Secretary suspended five teachers, for two months, in the department of Cortés, for abandoning their classrooms to attend an informative meeting called on 4 July 2014 by the Honduran teachers’ federation Federación de Organizaciones Magisteriales de Honduras (FOMH).

The teachers suspended are José Carballo, director of the Instituto José Trinidad Reyes, José Alas, director of the Instituto Técnico en Administración de Empresas (INTAE), Wilson Mejía, director of the Instituto Unión y Esfuerzo, Reinaldo Inestroza of the Escuela Leopoldo Aguilar, and the director of the Centro Básico Eusebio Fiallos.

Harassment of trade unionists at DEI25-09-2014

In June 2014, the trade union at the Executive Directorate of Revenue Collections, Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Dirección Ejecutiva de Ingresos (SITRADEI), which has 1,300 members nationwide, denounced that the management is refusing to allow union members time off to attend medical appointments and has reprimanded and suspended employees for holding two-hour information meetings. In addition, the legal proceedings disqualifying the union’s executive members are still underway.

Jorge Chavarría, the SITRADEI human rights secretary, stated that the acts of harassment are rooted in the union’s opposition to the creation of the Commission for the Promotion of Public-Private Partnerships, which it sees as a possible move towards privatising the institution.

Eradication of trade union at IHNFA25-09-2014

On September 2014, employees of the Honduran Institute for Children and Families (IHNFA) denounced the institution’s closure and its replacement by the National Directorate of Children and Families (DINAF).

According to the Sindicato de Trabajadores del IHNFA (SITRAIHFA), the main aim of the government measure was to eradicate the union, as 1,100 employees were dismissed; 70% of them were the main earner in the family with between three and five children.

Collective agreements frozen by decree30-06-2014

In June 2014, the ITUC was notified that the collective agreements of SITRAINCHSA, SITRAIHNFA, SITRAEPSOTRAVI and SITRAHONDUCOR had been frozen by decree.

Persecution of trade union organisations30-06-2014

In June 2014, the ITUC requested the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights
Office to urgently engage with the Honduran government over the intensification of the persecution of trade union organisations.

The ITUC had been alerted to the following measures taken by the Honduran government:

- Intervention in several trade union organisations, such as the Sindicato Municipal de San Pedro Sula, SIDEYTMP, SITRADEI, SITRAUNAH, SIEHPE, PRICMA, SINPRODO and COLPROSUMA.

- The special measures protecting trade union representatives (fuero sindical) were withdrawn from several trade union leaders, including Araceli Granados Sosa, Marco Antonio Saravia and Jorge Topilzhin Aguilar.

Mass dismissals at Operadora Portuaria Centroamericana18-03-2014

On 14 March 2014, the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Empresa Nacional Portuaria (SITRAENP) reported that, against the background of the privatisation of port operations in Honduras, the multinational port management company ICTSI and its subsidiary in Honduras Operadora Portuaria Centroamericana (OPC) began a process of mass dismissals, reportedly affecting some 80 workers, all members or former leaders of the SITRAENP.

The company claims that the dismissals were made in accordance with Honduran law, supposedly because the workers had reached the end of their 60-day trial period.

Union busting at National Agrarian Institute06-11-2013

In a report dated 30 October 2013, the Central Executive Board of the Sindicato de Trabajadores del Instituto Nacional Agrario (SITRAINA) denounced the strategy being deployed by the management to “divide the peasant movement and eradicate the trade union”.

The trade union organisation reiterated its denunciation of the delaying tactics being used by the management to prevent the negotiation of the new collective agreement, together with its illegal withholding of trade union dues and its refusal to grant paid trade union leave.

It also underlined that the INA is several months in arrears with the contributions payable to the National Institute of Public Employee Retirement Benefits and Pensions (INJUPEMP) and the Honduran Social Security Institute (IHSS), which is causing great insecurity and uncertainty among its employees and their families.

Serious dispute at cardboard company06-11-2013

When the workers formed a trade union one year ago in response to the abuses to which they were subjected, including non-payment of the minimum wage, the company made their life a misery. It transferred their leaders to very hot workplaces, exposed to the sun and without access to water; forced them to unload containers even though this work was not stipulated in their employment contracts; and locked them out if they arrived one minute after their scheduled starting time of 7am, meaning that they lost a day’s pay and a weekly bonus.

On 15 August this year, in protest at the company’s unfair treatment, all the workers decided to report for work at 7.15am

The company closed the gates and, in the following days, sacked about 70 workers without paying the benefits due to them. The company suspended the members of the union’s executive committee on full pay while it applies to the labour courts for authorisation to dismiss them.

In response to the company’s non-payment of the minimum wage, the union has lodged a complaint with the labour courts and asked them to impose a pay rise to cover the last two years.

IndustriALL Global Union has written to the government of Honduras, through the Ministry of Labour, demanding that it tries again to promote negotiations between the two parties with a view to resolving the dispute.

Interference in union rules19-08-2013

The Ministry of Education has directly interfered in union rules by demanding that union leaders not seek election after two mandates.

No free time accorded to trade union leaders19-08-2013

In 2013, the Ministry of Education forced trade union leaders in the education sector (COLPROSHUMAH, COPRUMH, PRICPHMA, COLPEDAGOGOSH) back to work and denied them their right to free time for trade union activities.

Threats and harassment of union members19-08-2013

Soon after the Canadian company Gildan Activewear bought the garment factory Star in El Progreso city, union members were reportedly harassed and threatened by management personnel. Non-unionised workers were encouraged to spread rumours about an imminent closure due to the presence of the trade union.

Union leaders in the education sector have also received threats by telephone and have been followed by cars without licence plates.

Collective agreements are not respected19-08-2013

A collective agreement signed between garment factory Pinehurst Manufacturing and the union SITRAPINEHURST stipulating the reintegration of unfairly dismissed workers were not only breached by the company, but several union members were dismissed soon after it was signed.

Casa Comercial Mathews, a Caterpillar subsidiary, dismissed 100 members of the SITRACCMA union in a clear breach of the collective agreement. The dismissed workers refused to accept an order to be transferred to a different branch of the same company. The clear objective of the changes was to destabilise the union.

Violence against workers19-08-2013

In the Bajo Aguán Valley, 57 rural workers have been murdered since 2009 for opposing forced evictions by large landowners who want to increase the cultivation of African palm trees. Any popular uprising is brutally repressed amid impunity and a growing criminalisation of protest and social struggle.

PepsiCo’s intransigence in collective bargaining 30-04-2013

In April 2013, after almost 30 months of negotiations on a new Collective Agreement between the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Industria de la Bebida y Similares (STIBYS) and the Embotelladora La Reyna SA (CABCorp-PepsiCo), the multinational categorically refused to negotiate on the main clauses of the agreement.

Union busting actions by Chiquita supplier15-08-2012

In order to protect their rights, workers at the Chiquita banana supplier, Tres Hermanas, formed a union, SITRAINBA, which was officially recognised by the Honduran Ministry of Labour on 15 August 2012. But instead of recognising and bargaining with SITRAINBA as required by Honduras’ labour law, Tres Hermanas’ management launched a campaign of anti-union harassment, which included firing four women who were prominent union activists.

Violations of the right to strike31-12-2011

Violations of the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
reached their highest expression in the education sector, which was threatened with the dissolution of its trade union organisations. This threat was accompanied by the mandate given to the police to violently repress strikes, thus crushing the right to protest and placing the teachers’ physical integrity at risk.

New law on temporary employment by the hour31-12-2011

The government enacted the law on employment by the hour, which deregulates the labour market and virtually annuls the Labour Code. It offers further proof of the business world’s control over the state. Collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
remained at a very low level. The number of unions in the private sector is lower than that in the public sector.

Temporary work: a strategy to undermine trade union rights31-12-2010

Trade union organisations denounced that the Work and Opportunities Activation Programme (PACTO) approved by the Legislative Chamber contains a number of provisions aimed at undermining labour and trade union rights. The bill is aimed at imposing and favouring temporary employment, denying permanent work and thus violating the right to job stability and trade union organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. .

In the maquilas, transnational textile brands, producers, and retailers subcontract Honduran companies, which employ workers, usually temporary, for 59 days. Only 1.5% of workers are unionised and less than 0.5% are covered by collective agreements. The same is the case in the cement industry, where only 9% of the labour force is unionised. At INCESA, labour outsourcing outsourcing See contracting-out has led to the loss of at least 220 permanent jobs held by workers belonging to a union.

The drinks industry is another example. At the brewing company Cervecería Hondureña as many as 34 intermediaries and contractors supply at least 733 workers; only 6% of these workers are affiliated to the social security system. In the sugar industry, only 6% of the labour force is unionised. The union membership rate in the port sector is 27%. In the banana sector, the traditional unions most affected include those representing workers at transnational banana companies. Union membership has fallen to 4,400 and the combined workforce at the two banana transnationals amounts to approximately 12,000.

Discrimination and poor application of labour laws31-12-2010

The law prohibits discrimination on grounds of gender, disability or ethnic origin. However, women are concentrated in low skilled, low paid jobs and do not receive equal pay for work of equal value to that of their male colleagues. This constitutes a real and serious barrier to the unionisation of women. Indigenous peoples face discrimination in access to employment. Child labour is widespread, especially in agriculture, mining, workshops and domestic labour.

Inspections to ensure compliance with the labour laws, including those on child labour, are rare.

The labour legislation also applies to export processing zones, but it is nonetheless difficult to organise unions in them.

Companies shirk their responsibilities31-12-2010

The procedures to secure the reinstatement of an unfairly dismissed worker are lengthy, slow and costly. Even when courts order that dismissed workers should be reinstated, employers often ignore the decision and refuse to take them back. Reports indicate that employers use a wide range of tactics to destroy the unions, some legal (such as the filing of appeals for the dissolution of unions by the courts), others illegal (such as reprisals and threats against trade union leaders and members). The Department of Labour takes no action to protect workers’ rights, arguing that it takes a non-interventionist approach to companies’ internal affairs.

Collective bargaining30-11-2009

One method used by employers to undermine the free exercise of collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
rights is the creation of a parallel association that responds to the management’s interests and which they authorise to negotiate a collective agreement that suits them. This allows them to circumvent any genuine workers’ demands and to neutralise any trade union action.

Trade union rights not protected30-11-2009

In practice, workers have no adequate legal protection against anti-union discrimination anti-union discrimination Any practice that disadvantages a worker or a group of workers on grounds of their past, current or prospective trade union membership, their legitimate trade union activities, or their use of trade union services. Can constitute dismissal, transfer, demotion, harassment and the like.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework

. They are harassed and even sacked for engaging in union activities. Workers trying to form unions in the export processing zones are sacked and blacklisted, as well as being intimidated, separated from their colleagues, mentally harassed and, in some instances, physically assaulted. Judicial processes are long and when the rulings do support the reinstatement of workers, they are generally ignored by companies without any adequate follow-up by the state.

Fear of reprisals30-06-2009

Since the coup d’état, all union activities have been restricted by the fear of being attacked at any events or meetings that may be held. All trade union leaders were under threat.

Complicity of the Labour Ministry, corruption and lack of resources 30-11-2008

The Labour Ministry does nothing to ensure that employers respect freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
, taking a non-interventionist approach.

Corruption is common amongst labour inspectors, some of whom go as far as selling lists of trade union members to company managers. This, compounded by the government’s failure to provide inspector’s with adequate resources, goes some way towards explaining the state’s ineffectiveness in protecting labour rights.

Union-busting strategies30-11-2008

Despite the legal recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. of trade union immunity protecting union representatives against unfair dismissal, the main strategy still being employed by companies to destroy unions is to fire all their leaders, often at the very moment the union is founded, to prevent its consolidation and growth. As the reinstatement procedure is very slow, those affected ultimately have to find new jobs in other companies in order to survive financially. Even in cases where they are reinstated, the conditions for forming a union are no longer there, as the staff has changed and so the whole organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. process has to be started again, more or less from scratch.

Companies also use other ways of blocking trade union organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. at all costs, such as filing appeals for the dissolution of the union. Where a union does exist in a company, the management deploys relentless union-busting tactics, making arbitrary demands and threats, taking reprisals and ill-treating union members.

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