Nicaragua is still struggling to emerge from a history of perpetual strife. The country is also burdened by debt so great that it is second only to Haiti as the most indebted country in the western hemisphere. The government hopes that ‘free trade’ will help improve the economy. In less than a decade, Nicaragua’s export market, once known for coffee, sugar and seafood, has been transformed by the force of free-trade zone production. Export-Processing Zones (EPZs)–as they are now commonly known–employ over 12,000 Nicaraguans daily and stand like fortresses behind their 20 foot, barbed-wire-topped walls.
In 1992, EPZs produced $2.8 million worth of goods. Only five years later, in 1997, that figure had rocketed to $164 million. Transnational corporations were enticed by promises of no export taxes and a young work force so desperate for jobs they would accept any wage.
Taiwanese factories alone brought in $110 million and employed over 50% of the EPZ work force. The number of jobs in the sector is expected to hit the 20,000-mark by years end–a considerable number given that the total workforce in manufacturing is between 31,000 and 38,000, according to the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute (INSS).
So, in early 1998, when Taiwanese-owned Chentex, the largest clothing manufacturer in Nicaragua, announced that it would close shop and relocate to Mexico, politicians and Chentex employees alike, began a fierce protest. Many saw the announcement as a traditional union-busting move designed to scare organizers into complacency and deny the workers their right to bargain collectively.
As reported by Robert Fonseca for the InterPress Service, 77% of Chentex employees are women and the majority are between the ages of 15 and 25. Young women are traditionally favored for EPZ factory jobs in both Central America and Asia because they are believed to be more submissive. Furthermore, the announcement came just one month after a union in the Chentex factory was granted legal recognition. (In spite all the odds against them, there are now six unions in the free-trade zone, according to Gilberto Wong, president of Las Mercedes, a state-owned Free-Trade Zone Corporation.)
Meanwhile, the Nicaraguan government has been less than supportive of the workers. Nicaragua's Minister of Labor, Wilfredo Navarro, criticized the many expressions of international solidarity towards the workers during this latest protest as an, "International campaign aimed at damaging the process of improving employment in the country." This charge was made despite the fact that the Chentex factory is no stranger to worker dissent. It has been violently occupied twice during the previous year by members of the Sandinista Workers Central (CST), who were demanding better and safer working conditions.
After several months of bargaining, union leaders and Chentex officials agreed to resolve their differences through peaceful negotiation rather than violent occupation. But, while progress is made by the unions, some seemingly backward steps are simultaneously being taken by the National Assembly.
Recently it passed a law that, according to the Nicaragua Network Hotline, "Authorizes the creation of a Presidential Police Force that is assigned both intelligence and paramilitary functions, separate from the already existing National Police."
The law states that this newly formed Police Force is to report to the president and to the Ministry of the Government, and that it is responsible for, "Directing and coordinating activities to obtain information and evaluating it in order to guarantee domestic order, citizen security, crime prevention." Because each of these responsibilities falls under the domain of the National Police, many believe that the purpose of this new law is to increase the power of the president. Claiming that this law violates the Constitution, the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) walked out on the vote. They argue that articles of the Constitution specifically prohibit, "Agencies of the Army, the Police, or any other institution of the State from exercising activities of political espionage."
For updates on this and other labor issues around the world (EPZ factories account for 25-30% of the people working in Central America's industrial sector), check Labor Net (www.igc.org/igc/ln) or e-mail the Nicaragua Network Hotline at nicanet@igc.org.
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