With Constantino López
On September 28, 2023, the Court of Appeals in Labor Matters of San Pedro Sula upheld the appeal filed by Sitiamash against a judgment handed down three months earlier by the Court of First Instance. In this way, it confirms the dissolution of Sitrazunosasg and thus ratifies the full legality of the SITIAMASH division that represents workers of the company Azucarera del Norte SA (Azunosa).
Giorgio Trucchi
06 | 11 | 2023
Photo: Giorgio Trucchi
In 2017, Sitrazunosasg agreed to merge with SITIAMASH. The merger process was ratified by the labor authorities of Honduras, and in 2018, the new division presented its list of demands.
Azunosa, acting with the complicity of the Ministry of Labor, refused to acknowledge the new organization and went against its members, allowing pro-management workers to create a parallel steering committee and reinstate the former union that had been dissolved in the merger.
As a result of SITIAMASH’s hard efforts, and with the support of the Single Confederation of Workers of Honduras (CUTH) and Rel UITA (IUF Latin America), in July 2022, the new authorities invalidated all the actions taken against the merger process, including the collective bargaining agreements signed between management and the dissolved Sitrazunosasg.
Unfortunately, in April of this year, in an unexpected and irresponsible move, the Ministry of Labor accepted a reversal action filed by Azunosa and overturned its previous resolution.
Now, with this latest ruling by the Court of Appeals in Labor Matters, which also denied the new reversal and annulment actions filed by the company, the legal battle has come to an end and justice has been served for the workers organized under SITIAMASH.
“At last justice was done. The lies were unmasked and the truth came to light, because justice always prevails,” Constantino ‘Tino’ López, SITIAMASH president, told La Rel.
“With this decision the legal status of the dissolved Sitrazunosasg is rendered null and void. The sentence is final and cannot be overturned,” he added.
López explained that, in view of this new scenario, the next step is to begin a new negotiating process for the collective bargaining agreement between Azunosa and the SITIAMASH division.
“In the next few days, the Court will forward its ruling to the Ministry of Labor for it to be entered into the record and then published in the Official Gazette.”
“We can then request a mediator to begin direct talks with the company.”
After six years of conflict, Azunosa workers represented by SITIAMASH are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
“Like I said, the law is being enforced and justice is being done. That’s what matters. We would like to thank Rel UITA for being there for us throughout this long process,” López concluded.