Nicaragua

In Nicaragua, the Solidarity Center works with unions in the agriculture, apparel and domestic work sectors, conducting worker education and outreach to build new unions and train working women to gain leadership skills. In the banana and agricultural industries, for instance, Solidarity Center allies have achieved historic collective bargaining agreements through training, mentoring and legal support. Workers at seven banana plantations in Nicaragua’s Chinangeda region, where employers refused to negotiate with workers for up to 16 years, are now covered by collective bargaining with FETDECH and the Association of Rural Workers (ATC). And, as a result of Solidarity Center-sponsored leadership development training programs focused on gender, women now hold half or the majority of leadership positions in banana-sector unions. The Solidarity Center also is working with the national domestic worker union federation FETRADOMOV on campaigns to end gender-based violence directed at domestic workers. The Solidarity Center and its partners in Nicaragua are reaching out to transgender domestic workers, who recently formed their own union organization to channel their advocacy efforts for decent employment and an end to widespread societal discrimination.