2002 Trainings and Exchanges

The maquila sector in Central America has proved an extremely difficult and precarious ground for union organizing. Workers in maquila factories know that plants can close overnight without advance warning or explanation, leaving them jobless and often owed back pay. They know that workers who demand their rights are almost always fired, and that management will have no problem finding someone new to fill their place in work-scarce, poverty-ridden communities. They know that many factories would rather shut down than accept a union—a fact that places those workers who do try to organize at risk not just of losing their jobs, but incurring the anger of others who fear the same.

Within this context, the achievement of a collective bargaining agreement by the union at the Yoo Yang factory in La Lima, Honduras in December 2001 was something to celebrate. And, after eight months of negotiations, STEYY (Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Empresa Yoo Yang) did just that. What’s more, they took their success as an opportunity to share strategies with other maquila unions in the region. With support from STITCH, Yoo Yang leader Jesus Banegas traveled to El Salvador on February 9, 2002, to meet with members of the STITT union forming at the Tainan maquila.

During the day-long exchange, Tainan union members recounted their campaign’s background, including their struggle for the reinstatement of fired union leaders. They sought Jesus’ advice on building membership and organizing actions within the plant. “Hearing about how they won their contract has helped us understand better how we can achieve ours—and proves to us that it is possible,” commented a STITT executive committee member. The STITT union went on to achieve a majority membership inside the Salvadoran factory, and was able to file to begin bargaining a contract. The STITT struggle was not over however, and a long, difficult and ultimately successful international solidarity campaign was developed to support the Tainan workers. For more information, see: http://www.usleap.org/Maquilas/maquilatemp.html#slavador

Exchange between Maquila Unions and Banana Unions in Honduras in April 2002
In April of 2002, STITCH staff worked with organizers from maquila organizing project in Honduras, and COSIBAH, the coordination of Honduran banana unions, to plan a two-part training-exchange workshop. The banana unions in Honduras have a long history, and in particular, have a well-developed women’s leadership program. Women workers from the maquila sector and the banana sector often live in the same communities and this meeting was a chance to explore that ways women from the two sectors could support each other.

The first part of the workshop was a training on membership recruitment with several maquila unions. This was co-led by trainers from STITCH and by the Honduran maquila organizers. The fifteen women union members who attended discussed power dynamics within the plant and ways to talk with non-affiliated workers to help them understand the union’s purpose and their potential in it. The participants practiced these recruitment skills in role-plays, and discussed together the importance of active listening.

In the second half of the workshop, held in the afternoon, women union leaders from COSIBAH joined with women from the maquila unions to exchange information about their sectors and share organizing techniques. In discussing the issues they faced as women workers and unionists in their respective industries, the women encountered significant overlap: women from both sectors identified women’s triple work load, sexism, sexual harassment, and women’s own inferiority complexes as issues faced individually and as a union.

By the end of the afternoon, the compañeras from both groups expressed interest in continued exchanges based on the many commonalities and the important differences they learned about in this first meeting.

Exchange between Maquila unions and Banana unions in Honduras in June 2002
In June of 2002, STITCH followed up on the April exchange between women banana and maquila unionists in Honduras by facilitating a training and some field work with the same compañeras. The June training focused on house-visiting techniques, with emphasis on answering the “tough questions” put to organizers by workers they visit.

Despite being from different sectors, the women agreed that the toughest issues to discuss with unaffiliated workers were workers’ fears of losing their jobs due to repression or plant shut-downs, workers’ suspicion of corruption on the part of union leaders, and a simple lack of time. The newer maquila union leaders and more seasoned banana union leaders practiced responding to these issues through role-plays with each other. Then, in the afternoon, they put their skills to the test by actually visiting workers in the surrounding neighborhoods. Armed with addresses and information about the workers they were to visit, the women activists set off in groups of two and three. Returning several hours later, the compañeras discussed the experience – the banana workers had some words of advice for the fledgling maquila leaders while being impressed and inspired by the dynamism of the new unions. The banana leaders felt the more aggressive model of organizing being used by the maquila women would be of use to them as they organize the growing numbers of non-union banana plantations.

In conclusion, Maria Elena Muñoz, general secretary of STEYY, said she appreciated the solidarity shown by COSIBAH members toward her union. “It makes a difference to us, and to our members, to know that others in the labor movement support us.”

Exchange between new and newer Maquila unions in Honduras in September 2002
STITCH has partnered with STEYY, the union at the Yoo Yang maquila in Honduras since its foundation in 2000. More recently, we have begun to work with the recently-formed union SITRACOR of the Corazon factory, of a nearby free trade zone in Honduras. The factories, Yoo Yang and Corazon, are owned by the same company. Wome at both plants have decided that if the factories are “sister factories,” then they are “sister unions,” with STEYY assuming the role of big sister to the fledgling SITRACOR.

In an effort to support this solidarity and help each union build individual capacity, STITCH coordinated two trainings, held September 19 and September 21 respectively. The trainings were facilitated by Zoila Lagos, a feminist community organizer working with COSIBAH’s (the coordination of banana unions) organizing team. The first training, with STEYY’s elected leaders, focused on carrying out participatory meetings - an issue with which the leaders are struggling.

Then, the STEYY leaders worked with Zoila to plan the September 21 training, directed toward SITRACOR members. In this training, STEYY leaders shared ideas and experiences in confronting the management’s anti-union campaign. This has been an urgent issue for SITRACOR, which is fighting factory management’s attempt to organize its own parallel union. The STEYY worker-led training was a great success. Over 30 SITRACOR members participated, listening to the STEYY leaders’ experiences, recounting some of their own, and asking questions. At the end of the exchange, the workers came together to practice different union cheers, concluding the training with an enthusiastic “Adelante! Adelante! La lucha es constante!” (Ahead! Ahead! The struggle is constant!”)

Exchange between US Farmworkers and Banana workers in Guatemala and Honduras in December 2002
Banana unions have traditionally stood among Central America’s stronger unions, but are increasingly threatened by consolidation of the US market, in the form of gigantic supermarket chains. This consolidation means that the enormous chains, like Wal-mart and Costco, decide the price for bananas— and generally set these prices low. The “Big Three” banana companies, Del Monte Fresh, Dole, and Chiquita, are not big enough to challenge this. Instead, they pass the pressure to produce more and better bananas at lower prices along until it is workers who see wages cut and benefits scuttled.

Though the Big Three may not have stood up to the supermarket chains, banana unions are seeking ways to defend their gains and continue improving workers lives. Meanwhile, in the US, agricultural unions—facing the same consolidation of markets—are also developing strategies. In Washington State, for example, the United Farm Workers is developing a label for apples produced on unionized farms, and working with local grocery stores to market it. At the same time they deal with these more recent shifts, unions in both the US and Central America must continue to confront long-standing problems of subcontracting by transnationals to independent producers, weak or unenforced pesticide regulations, and access to healthcare.

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.