Honduras: Whether Bestform de Honduras S. A. is unionized or has undergone attempts to unionize its employees, 1996-June 1998
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 July 1998 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | HND29788.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Honduras: Whether Bestform de Honduras S. A. is unionized or has undergone attempts to unionize its employees, 1996-June 1998, 1 July 1998, HND29788.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab4678.html [accessed 30 May 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. |
A representative of the Committee of the Relatives of the Disappeared of Honduras (COFADEH, a human rights organization based in Honduras) stated during a 22 July 1998 telephone interview that employees at the Bestform plant in Choloma have not been able to unionize. A group of employees at the plant was dismissed in March 1997, and remaining employees apparently felt intimidated or afraid to continue efforts at forming a union.
A 1998 report published on the Internet, based on ongoing studies of Central American "export processing zones" which set up a front company called New Age Textiles to "establish" factories in these areas to gain confidential information on how the already established ones dealt with unions, states the following:
FIDE hosted New Age Textiles' visit to Honduras. The first stop on our itinerary was the ZIP Choloma Export Processing Zone, which had been constructed with U.S. government financing as well as receiving technical assistance from FIDE. There were eight U.S. apparel firms with assembly operations in the zone. FIDE first took us to see the manager of BestForm Foundations, Inc., a private women's undergarment manufacturer headquartered in New York, which has annual sales of over $100 million. Asked if there were union troubles at ZIP Choloma, the BestForm manager explained that this was not an issue since the zone management maintains a computerized blacklist to screen and protect the companies from hiring potential union organizers. The blacklist is constantly updated with new names of those fired for attempting to organize. The BestForm manager explained that he had caught "a girl passing a note here a couple of weeks ago. We just called the Administration out there, `Somebody slipped through' and we got her out of here." (Sheinkman 1998).
The BestForm factory in Honduras employs 400 women and produces undergarments for Christian Dior, Victoria's Secret, Sears and J.C. Penney. Among the labels BestForm supplies are Christian Dior Intimates and Dolores Dabe of Lily of France (ibid.).
In 1996 the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) reported that "workers in the country's privately-owned industrial estates in the export processing zones ... joining trade unions were illegally fired" (Annual Survey 1996). ICFTU adds that, according to the President of Honduras, "the maquiladoras [export processing companies] refuse to allow their employees freedom of association," and adds that "in the privately-owned industrial estates, very few unions have been legally recognized and none are able to operate; they are destroyed by management threats, harassment, and firings, despite legal protection against acts of anti-union discrimination" (ibid.). The 1996 report also states that "resistance to trade unions and collective bargaining has meant that no new collective agreements have been signed for over a decade, although the law obliges employers to bargain" (ibid.).
In 1997 the ICFTU reported on the union situation of the export processing zones stating that "few unions are legally recognized and able to operate," adding that "sacked unionists are often put on a blacklist" (ibid. 1997). ICFTU adds that "although the law obliges employers to bargain with unions, resistance to collective bargaining has meant that no new collective agreements have been signed for over a decade" (ibid.).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Committee of the Relatives of the Disappeared of Honduras (COFADEH), Tegucigalpa. 22 July 1998. Telephone interview with representative.
ICFTU Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights-1997. 1997.. Brussels: International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. [Internet]
ICFTU Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights-1996. 1996. Brussels: International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. [Internet]
Sheinkman, Jack. 1998. "Paying to Lose Our Jobs." New York: National Labor Committee. [Internet]
Additional Sources Consulted
Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.]. Fortnightly. 1996-98.
Central America Report [Guatemala City]. Weekly. 1996-98.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Reports. Daily. 1996-97.
Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. 1996-97.
Latinamerica Press [Lima]. Weekly. 1996-98.
Latin American Regional Reports: Central America & the Caribbean [London]. Monthly. 1996-98.
News from Americas Watch [New York]. Monthly.
Newspapers and periodicals pertaining to the appropriate region.
Electronic sources: IRB Databases, Global NewsBank, NEXIS, Internet, REFWORLD, WNC.
Note:
This list is not exhaustive. Country-specific books available in the Resource Centre are not included.
