2015 ITUC Global Rights Index - Guatemala

2015 ITUC Global Rights Index Rating: 5

Violations of the right to life and integrity:

In August 2014, workers were physically assaulted and threatened by their employers within the context of a dispute over the failure to settle outstanding payments and the unfair dismissal of a number of workers at Plantaciones de Café el Ferrol, la Florida y Santa Elena (FEFLOSA S.A.). The General Labour Inspectorate subsequently accused the workers of trying to extort money from the company. On 7 August 2014, the workers filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office. By March 2015, they had still not received any notification regarding the investigations.

On 30 September 2014, the company's legal representative signed a document drawn up by the Labour Ministry, whereby it committed to settling the outstanding payments. At the end of October, only a portion of the amounts owed had been paid. This desperate situation led one of the workers to exercise his right "to resistance for the protection and defence of constitutional rights and guarantees", occupying a shed on the plantation. The employer responded by refusing to pay the sums still owed to the workers as a whole and tried to forcefully remove the worker and his family. Whilst doing so, he ran over the workers' wife, leaving her seriously injured.

Three members of the Jalapa municipal workers' union Sindicato de Trabajadores Municipales de Jalapa were shot dead between 25 March and 8 April 2014. They had been campaigning to press the municipal authority to pay the seven months' wages owed to them after being reinstated to their posts.

On 11 May 2014, transport union leader Luis Arnoldo López Esteban, from the Sindicato de Trabajadores del Transporte en Servicio Público de Ciudad Pedro de Alvarado (SITRASEPUCPA), in Jutiapa, was murdered. Two individuals requested a ride and then carried out the killing on reaching a secluded area.

Gabriel Enrique Ciramagua Ruiz, organising secretary of the Zacapa municipal workers' union Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Municipalidad de Zacapa (SITRAMUZAC), was killed on 7 July 2014.

Joaquín Chiroy y Chiroy, founder and deputy general secretary of the market workers' union Sindicato Gremial de Vendedores y Similares del Mercado Municipal de Sololá was murdered by unknown assailants two hundred metres away from his home, at 4.30 a.m. on 28 June 2014. On 21 July, a request was made to the District Public Prosecution Service of the Public Prosecutor's Office of the department of Sololá to investigate the incident. The file is currently in the hands of the Public Prosecution Service, under case number MP086-2014-1528. There have been no results from the investigation to date.

Young trade unionist murdered:

The ITUC denounced the murder of young trade unionist Marlon Dagoberto Vásquez López, aged just 19. Marlon was a member of the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Construcción y Servicios de Guatemala (SINCSG), a student and an active member of the young trade unionists' network in Quetzaltenango. His body was found on 6 January 2014 in the municipality of Concepción Chiquirichapa.

The banana plantation areas in the north and south of Guatemala have been the scene of serious labour and trade union rights violations as well as attacks on the physical integrity of their workers for several years. In 2013 and 2014, Guatemala was the world's second largest banana exporter, generating huge profits for the companies in the sector. The workers, however, earn around US$ 12.9 for a 12 hour working day, without health or social security coverage. It has proved impossible to form trade union organisations in the southern region owing to the violence and the threats received. In the north, the workers formed SITRABI. This union has managed to survive in spite of the violence suffered by its members and families and the companies' constant violations of collective bargaining rights.

Coca Cola suspends unionised workers:

In April 2014, Coca Cola launched a strong media campaign to discredit the Sindicato de Trabajadores de Alimentos y Bebidas Atlántida S.A. (SITRAABASA), announcing that there are two groups of workers at the company, those who, regardless of their post, are considered "trustworthy" and those that are union members. The company gave pay rises to the former while the unionised workers are being made to wait until the collective agreement is signed. In response to this discrimination, a number of workers decided to refuse to do overtime. The company retaliated by suspending them from their posts on 24 April.

The ITUC Global Rights Index Ratings:

1 // Irregular violation of rights
Collective labour rights are generally guaranteed. Workers can freely associate and defend their rights collectively with the government and/or companies and can improve their working conditions through collective bargaining. Violations against workers are not absent but do not occur on a regular basis.

2 // Repeated violation of rights
Countries with a rating of 2 have slightly weaker collective labour rights than those with the rating 1. Certain rights have come under repeated attacks by governments and/or companies and have undermined the struggle for better working conditions.

3 // Regular violation of rights
Governments and/or companies are regularly interfering in collective labour rights or are failing to fully guarantee important aspects of these rights. There are deficiencies in laws and/or certain practices which make frequent violations possible.

4 // Systematic violation of rights
Workers in countries with the rating 4 have reported systematic violations. The government and/or companies are engaged in serious efforts to crush the collective voice of workers putting fundamental rights under threat.

5 // No guarantee of rights
Countries with the rating of 5 are the worst countries in the world to work in. While the legislation may spell out certain rights workers have effectively no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labour practices.

5+ // No guarantee of rights due to the breakdown of the rule of law
Workers in countries with the rating 5+ have equally limited rights as countries with the rating 5. However, in countries with the rating 5+ this is linked to dysfunctional institutions as a result of internal conflict and/or military occupation. In such cases, the country is assigned the rating of 5+ by default.