Honduras

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Field trip part funded by Prospect War on
Want Part of the BID project Funded by Department
For International Development
Field trip by Prospect Development Advocate Clare
Hawkes(HSE Branch) as observer on a project
monitoring visit to sweatshops (maquilas) in
Honduraswith Laia Blanch, Programmes Officer
for War on Want and project partner CODEMUH
(Honduran Womens Collective)25 to 30 May 2009
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BASIC FACTS ABOUT HONDURAS
Total population of 7.6 million - Capital is
Tegucigalpa (population 800,000) 2nd poorest
country in Central America and one of the poorest
countries in the Western Hemisphere - more than
60 of the Honduran population live in
poverty Labour force by occupation agriculture
34, industry 21, services 45 
Industries sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing,
wood products Agriculture bananas, coffee,
citrus beef timber shrimp Exports coffee,
shrimp, bananas, gold, palm oil, fruit, lobster,
lumber
Sweatshops in Honduras There are over 130,000
maquila (sweatshop) workers in Honduras, the
highest number in Central America Textile
companies are attracted to countries like
Honduras to exploit the vast pools of cheap
labour and maximise profits by exporting garments
to US and European markets
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CODEMUH Honduras Womens Collective
CODEMUH is a grassroots organisation rooted in
women workers participation. It organises regular
meetings for women garment workers in order to
raise awareness of labour rights and women
issues. CODEMUH is leading the campaign to
reform the occupational health chapter of
national labour legislation in order to improve
the working conditions in Honduran
sweatshops. CODEMUH is part of the Central
American Network of Women in Solidarity with
Sweatshops- Maquilas Workers.

• CURRENT STRUGGLE
• Poor labour laws and lack of adherence to
  existing law
• Flexibilisation of working conditions -
  flexible labour laws that undermines job security
  this endemic in EPZs
• Creating regional solidarity for sweatshop
  workers - including Mexico, El Salvador and
  Nicaragua

• EPZ EXPORT PROCESSING ZONE ?
• Global phenomenon in developing countries
• Created to attract investment and industry
• Global companies seek to reduce costs and
  increase profit margins
• Typically anti collective bargaining and trade
  unions

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FIELD TRIP DIARY
Monday 25th May
Meeting with the General Secretary of FESITRANH
National Union Federation of Honduran Workers
TRADE UNION VIOLATIONS IN HONDURAS (ITUC Trade
Union Violations Report 2009) 2008 was a bloody
year for Honduran trade unionists. The General
Secretary of the CTH, Rosa Altagracia Fuentes,
was shot to death along with trade union leader
Virginia García de Sánchez and Juan Bautista
Gálvez, who was accompanying them. A month
later, the leader of ANACH, Israel García, was
gunned down and killed. Two leaders of SITRAFL
received threats and were shot at by unknown
assailants. Permanent staff at Lafarge Cementos
were fired and replaced with subcontracted
workers.
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FIELD TRIP DIARY
Monday 25th May
Visit to CODEMUH office in Choloma. The change
from relative affluence of the city to the
poverty of the workers suburb is stark.
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FIELD TRIP DIARY
Monday 25th May
We meet with CODEMUH workers, members and
sweatshop workers. They share experiences and
tell us what they want us to do.
Dont boycott the T-shirts they make. Let the
companies know that we know about the
conditions and that we want better working
conditions for them.
We observe CODEMUH members preparing for a puppet
performance at a meeting of the Organisation of
American States. The puppet show is a drama
depicting the experiences of the women working in
the textile sweatshops.
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FIELD TRIP DIARY
Tuesday 26th May
We sit in on a Doctors consultation with workers
who are suffering because of their work - spinal
hernias. Theyve had to stop work and are denied
full social security benefits because the
Institute of Social Security has ruled that the
disabilities are not work related.
Despite Lourdes difficulties, she continues to
struggle to find a job and to provide her son
with an education. She participates with CODEMUH
supporting women who are going through similar
problems and raising awareness of the labour law
reform.
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A COMMON RECIPE FOR POVERTY
The minimum Honduran wage, earned by the majority
of maquila workers, is 2,691 lempiras per month
(approx. 73) Quality of life is appalling with
most workers living in basic accommodation a
single room for a family of 5 members is common.
Partial paralysis of arms legs Extreme
pain Spinal hernias Carpal tunnel syndrome Cysts
11.5 hour shifts Repetitive movement No back
support No adequate breaks
No work No pay No voice No protection


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FIELD TRIP DIARY
Meeting with Hanes Business International -
Senior Managers from HR. They tell us how good
their health and safety performance is - records
are kept, but are never analysed so they dont
know whether there is a rising trend or increase
in MSDs!
Wednesday 27th May
A request to visit the shop floor is denied
We drive out to see workers leaving their shifts
from the factories at the side of the highway
towards Villanueva. This is a typical busy
evening at the entrance to one of the many EPZs.
133,000 Hondurans are employed in the maquila
(sweatshop) industry 70 are women.
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FIELD TRIP DIARY
Thursday 28th May
The conference
With the aim to define common strategies to
change policies on Occupational Health and Safety
in the workplace (maquila sector) - the
conference hosts sweatshop workers, grass roots
organisations, trade unionists from Mexico, El
Salvador and Nicaragua, representatives from the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the
World Health Organisation (WHO).
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FIELD TRIP DIARY
Friday 29th May
The CODEMUH members and Mexican maquila workers
trade stories - listening to each others
experiences in the workplace and their resultant
injuries and ill health.
CODEMUH is working for regional solidarity as
sweatshop abuses are widespread across central
America. Global companies are known to hop
between countries in a region, from one Export
Processing Zone to another, when workers start to
organise themselves.
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EMPLOYMENT - YES
BUT WITH DIGNITY !
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Prospect Bargaining for International Development
project (Funded by Department for International
Development) www.prospect.org.uk/international W
ar on Want programme information http//www.waronw
ant.org/overseas-work/sweatshops-and-plantations