Guatemala
Guatemala has the lowest unionization rate of any country in Latin America, and brave worker activists who struggle to form unions in this adverse context are in many cases illegally fired, threatened, attacked and murdered. In this context, the Solidarity Center offers technical expertise to local partners who are pushing for robust enforcement of labor laws and for an end to the rampant impunity for the widespread human rights abuses committed against unionists. The Solidarity Center partners with national and local union bodies and rights activists to educate Guatemalan workers on their basic rights under domestic labor law and international labor standards, assist them in adjudicating labor rights violations, and help them improve their wages and working conditions through unionization campaigns. Our union allies in the agriculture, apparel and domestic work industries are developing the leadership capacity of traditionally marginalized workers, including women, indigenous and informal economy workers. We also work to develop public policy platforms that bring together all segments of Guatemala’s union movement to advocate reforms that benefit all workers. In addition, as Guatemala is currently one of the principal departure countries for migrant workers seeking better livelihoods in the United States, the Solidarity Center works with the Regional Inter-Union Committee for the Defense of Migrant Worker Rights (CI Regional) on a national and Central America-wide level to promote the rights of migrants through multi-stakeholder social dialogue and policy advocacy.

Media Contact

Kate Conradt
Communications Director
(+1) 202-974 -8369

 

Report: Unionists Face Death, Attacks in Central America

At least five union activists were murdered in Guatemala in 2018, and union leaders and members in Guatemala and Honduras suffered dozens of incidents over the past year for standing up for worker rights, including restriction of union rights, intimidation,...

Two Union Leaders Targeted in Guatemala

Two union leaders in Guatemala were imprisoned January 17–28 for negotiating and signing a collective agreement between the union and the Ministry of Health authorities in 2013. Following a hearing, both union leaders were released on parole but placed under house...

3 Unionists Murdered in Guatemala, Honduras in Past Year

Two union activists were murdered in Guatemala and one in Honduras, while dozens of others were targets of violence—including threats of murder, kidnapping and stalking—over the past year, according to two reports released this week. In Guatemala, “where the...
Guatemala: Another Union Leader Murdered

Guatemala: Another Union Leader Murdered

Gunmen on a motorcycle assassinated another Guatemalan union leader on Friday, bringing to 87 the number of labor leaders murdered in the country since November 2004. Tomás Francisco Ochoa Salazar, disputes secretary for the Bremen Union (SITRABREMEN), was leaving the...

Guatemalan Union Leader’s Murder a ‘Cowardly Act’

Guatemalan Union Leader’s Murder a ‘Cowardly Act’

The murder of Brenda Marleni Estrada Tambito, deputy coordinator of the Legal Advisory Committee of the Trade Union of Workers of Guatemala (UNSITRAGUA / HISTORICA), was a “cowardly criminal attack” according to the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA)...

Report Tallies Threats against Guatemala Unionists

Report Tallies Threats against Guatemala Unionists

Guatemala is still one of the most dangerous places in the world for worker rights activists, with 14 incidents of anti-union violence documented and verified in 2015, according to a report issued today by the Worker Rights Defenders Network of Guatemala. The...

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