Exchanges with Nicaraguan maquila unions in 2000
In July of 2000, STITCH members Jennifer Hill and Liz O'Connor traveled to Nicaragua to do an exchange with the Chentex union, which was under fierce attack by Taiwanese investors. Union leaders discussed strategic campaigns, keeping the union strong while confronting the anti-union challenge, and mobilizing and communicating with members.
Exchanges with Honduran maquila unions in 2000
"What I really enjoyed was the chance to exchange ideas and share problems with our North American visitors and the Honduran unions. We have so much to learn from each other." — Sonia Medina, Vice president, SITTRANSPACIFIC
In May of 2000, STITCH held the first Honduran training exchange weekend as part of a program with five unions in the maquila sector (SITTRANSPACIFIC, SITRAKIMIH, SITRAFASHION, SITRAIMASH and SITRAMACOR). As new or revitalized organizations in majority-women workplaces, maquila unions are a mixed blessing for their women members. On the one hand, a new union offers an opportunity for women's leadership and participation, and for better working conditions. On the other hand, these women will face incredible odds to defend their organizations over the long haul in an industry notorious for cut-and-run union-busting campaigns. The purpose of the two-year program is to share ideas about local union building and women's leadership development.
The first exchange in May focused on union leadership structures. Jennifer Hill and Paula Bentley, both from SEIU traveled to Honduras for the workshop, and developed an agenda in collaboration with Honduran organizers. A second exchange was held in October, where US and Honduran participants shared strategies for solving workplace health and safety problems. We realized that in both countries, unions often depend on strong shop floor organizing instead of long and costly legal battles to win gains for their members. For this training, Jennifer Hill returned and was joined by UNITE's Laurie Kellogg.
With these links in mind, the US-based organization STITCH coordinated an exchange between the Washington State UFW and the Coordinadora de Sindicatos Bananeros de Honduras (COSIBAH, the Coordination of Banana Unions of Honduras) and the Sindicato de Trabajadores Bananeros de Izabal (SITRABI, the Union of Banana Workers of Izabal) in Guatemala. We planned the December exchange to provide opportunities for activists from the three groups to share strategies, build connections, and consider future joint activities.
In Honduras, a leader from the UFW met with leaders from the eight COSIBAH member unions to discuss the groups’ respective label projects. The UFW emphasized the need to carry out consumer research, while COSIBAH leaders talked about the challenges of selling the idea to their members. In Guatemala, the UFW activist led a workshop with 18 SITRABI stewards. The workshop focused on mobilizing the rank-and-file for contract negotiations, which SITRABI expected to begin shortly after the training.
Activists from COSIBAH and SITRABI, in Honduras and Guatemala, commented that is was extremely helpful to learn about concrete techniques, like mapping the workplace, which had brought good results in the United States for immigrant workers there. The UFW activists who participated felt it was particularly interesting to hear about the Central America’s work on pesticide issues and both left feeling that the exchange had left them with new ideas for organizing and representing agricultural workers.
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