2016 ITUC Global Rights Index - Honduras
| Publisher | International Trade Union Confederation |
| Publication Date | 9 June 2016 |
| Cite as | International Trade Union Confederation, 2016 ITUC Global Rights Index - Honduras, 9 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5799aa6e1ed.html [accessed 4 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Fyffes workers abducted for forming a union: Fourteen women workers of SURAGROH, a Fyffes subsidiary melon plantation in Honduras, were hospitalised in December 2015 after being poisoned by the noxious chemicals they were forced to handle without any personal protective equipment.
Workers report that the company does not fulfil its legal obligations with regard to minimum wage, overtime payments, public holidays or Sunday double time. Social security quotas are deducted from pay but not passed on to the government departments, thus depriving employees from accessing the health system or being paid benefits to which they are entitled.
The company also illegally charges workers for transport to the fields, and when they formed a branch of the STAS agricultural workers´ union at the end of January 2016, four members of the new Executive were abducted, threatened and held incommunicado for a day until they renounced their membership.
University trade union leader killed: 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 leader: 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 the coming union elections to be held by SITRAUNAH.
