Improving Respect for Workers’ Rights in Agricultural Supply Chains in Honduras and Guatemala, and the Maquila Sector in El Salvador

In Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, workers in the agricultural and apparel sectors endure  restrictions on freedom of association, wages that are insufficient to meet basic needs, long working hours (at times in excess of legal limits or even forced overtime), persecution of labor organizers and advocates, gender-based violence and harassment, exposure to health and safety hazards, and inadequate or non-existent employment benefits. This particularly affects workers from underserved communities, including rural, indigenous, and Afro-descendant communities, women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and other sexual and gender-diverse (LGBTQI+) workers . 

All three countries have been parties to the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR FTA) with the U.S. since 2004. In 2020, the U.S. imported $11.3 billion in goods from these three countries, especially agricultural and apparel products.