Honduras: 5 Years Without Wage Hike Prompt State Workers Strike

Honduran workers in 20 different public sector unions at the national level, including hospital workers, launched a strike Monday in the country’s two major cities, Tegucigalpa and San Pedro, to pressure authorities to increase their wages.

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Workers warned that they were willing to continue the work stoppage on Tuesday if the government does not respond positively, the Honduran daily La Prensa reported.

According to public sector unions, state workers have not received a pay raise for the past five years under the conservative National Party government, despite increases in the cost of basic goods in the same period.

Workers are now demanding a wage hike of about US$88 per month, local media reported. The current average minimum wage is about US$343 per month, though it varies by sector and size of the company.

Erlin Mejia, a nurse and president of the Sitamedhys union in the business capital San Pedro Sula told La Prensa that President Juan Orlando Hernandez had promised to start negotiations in January, but the unions are still waiting.

Unions have slammed the government over an apparent total lack of political will to negotiate with workers and reach agreements.

Hospital workers, in particular, have repeatedly denounced difficult working conditions and their inability to deliver needed care to hundreds of patients in recent years in light of severe drug and funding shortages. Outrage over the situation spiked last year when news of a massive corruption scandal in the social security institute surfaced, just months after the government had announced US$35 million in cuts to the national health system budget and major public hospitals.

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Despite the large-scale strike, not all public sector institutions were shut down. The public facility Hospital Escuela in the capital city Tegucigalpa, for example, remained opened on Monday for appointments and emergencies, while other hospitals such as Hospital San Felipe in San Pedro Sula participated in the work stoppage.

The work stoppage comes less than a month ahead of the seventh anniversary of the 2009 U.S.-backed military coup in Honduras that ousted democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya and installed a conservative government that has held power since. Zelaya was increasingly responsive to progressive demands during his presidency, while the right-wing post-coup governments have overseen a deterioration of human rights.

Union leaders have said that workers are prepared to escalate job action if agreements are not reached.