Honduras: Analysis of the impact of the Collective of Honduran Women (CODEMUH) on workers’ rights and occupational health, 2002 to 2005

Overview

The Collective of Honduran Women (CODEMUH) is a feminist organisation which defends women’s rights in Honduras through capacity building, legal action, and public campaigning. This paper describes CODEMUH’s public campaign in support of women’s labour rights and occupational health, focusing on export garment industries. Efforts to increase Honduran manufacturing productivity in the context of global supply chain competition have resulted in erosion of workers’ rights, for example through increases in unpaid overtime, suppression of freedom of association, and failure to meet health and safety requirements. Since 2004 CODEMUH has been campaigning to inform workers, managers, and government officials about occupational health risks for garment industry workers. The article describes how CODEMUH has successfully harnessed media, public events, and strategic international linkages to promote the issue and to increase pressure on government and companies for change. The impacts of the campaign are analysed, along with the challenges and lessons learned.