Women in the Honduran Melon Industry - International Labor Rights ...

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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONSIn interviews with 310 Honduran female melon workers and fifteen separate group meetings, COSIBAH identified laborrights violations in the areas of temporary and precarious employment, wage violations, unsafe and inhumane workingconditions, and failure to provide social security benefits.COSIBAH attributes the deplorable working conditions suffered by the workers primarily to the indifference of meloncompanies. Without stronger recourse by the Honduran government and public pressure by the international community,melon workers will not escape from their lives of exploitation and extreme poverty.The following table outlines some recommendations that COSIBAH and the ILRF believe are necessary to address theviolations mentioned above.ADDRESS ACTORS ACTIONSTemporary, Precarious Labor Melon Companies • Adopt a hiring scheme that offers long-term employmentto workers• Strictly enforce documentation requirements for jobapplicants and do not contract with children• Comply with all national standards for employment,including the prohibition of pregnancy testing• Enter into formal employment contracts with workersand ensure that all workers receive a formal appointmentletter setting out the terms of their contract• Fully disclose to employees all terms of work contractsand ensure that they understand them by reviewingcontract terms verbally in consideration of illiterateemployees and publically posting labor rights and applicableCode of Conduct informationTemporary, Precarious Labor Honduran Government • Ensure that every worker is documented in formalwritten employment contracts and that all workers receivea copy of their contract• Perform regular monitoring visits to plantations in orderto verify appropriate company documentation of employeesand include independent interviews with workers inorder to formulate an unbiased assessment of companycompliance with labor laws• Develop and implement tougher repercussions for laborviolations: incrementally increase fines for violations andintroduce serious non-monetary punishments for noncompliance,such as closing the plantationTemporary, Precarious Labor COSIBAH/Unions • Work with labor unions in other regional agriculturalsectors in order to demand that employers comply withlabor rightsINTERNATIONAL LABOR RIGHTS FORUMWOMEN IN THE HONDURAN MELON INDUSTRY12
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONSADDRESS ACTORS ACTIONSTemporary, Precarious Labor Buyers • Adopt a Code of Conduct and incorporate a clauseprohibiting the use of unfair labor throughout the entiresupply chain and requiring mandatory registration of allworkers for long-term contracts when possible• Report publicly on the company’s policies for supplier/vendor selection, management, and/or termination• Publicly release the list of melon plantations• Set up an internal monitoring system and report publiclyon auditing policies, mechanisms and results. The auditingagenda shall include but not be limited to the followingtopics: precarious contracting, wages, child labor, workinghours, social security benefits, working environment andworkers’ right to organize and bargain collectively.Wage Violations Melon Companies • Incorporate a living wage clause in the Code of Conduct• Ensure that the salary and benefits, which must be atleast equal to the legal minimum wage, are clarified andguaranteed in the formal appointment letters• Work with unions and NGOs to conduct internalauditing and report publicly on the auditing results. Theauditing agenda shall include but not be limited to thefollowing topics: precarious contracting, wages, childlabor, working hours, social security benefits, workingenvironment and workers’ right to organize and bargaincollectively.Wage Violations Honduran Government • Incorporate a living wage clause into regionaland national minimum wage law and ensure that it isincorporated into employee contracts• Strictly enforce all labor requirements, including eighthour workdays and 44 hour workweeks. Ensure thatworkers are not forced to work overtime, which otherwiseis a violation of the existing forced labor prohibition.• Perform both disclosed and discrete audits to ensurethat payment schedules, including Sunday pay and bonusprograms, are set out in labor contracts and providedaccordingly, and that payments are made on timeWage Violations COSIBAH/ Unions • Work with labor unions in other regional agriculturalsectors in order to demand that employers comply withlabor rightsINTERNATIONAL LABOR RIGHTS FORUMWOMEN IN THE HONDURAN MELON INDUSTRY13
Page 1 and 2: INTERNATIONAL LABOR RIGHTS FORUMBUI
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTSExecutive Summary.
Page 5 and 6: EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe international
Page 7 and 8: INTRODUCTIONON GETTING BY:Families
Page 9 and 10: WORKING CONDITIONSNot only are melo
Page 12: WORKING CONDITIONSNearly 70% of the
Page 17 and 18: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONSADDR
Page 19 and 20: APPENDIX A18. Does the company pay
Page 22: APPENDIX A59. Are the instructions

Women in the Honduran Melon Industry - International Labor Rights ...

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