Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Honduras (Ratification: 1956)

The Committee notes the observations of the Honduran National Business Council (COHEP), received on 7 May and 1 September 2025. It also notes the observations of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), received on 1 September 2025, which reiterate the comments made in the Committee on the Application of Standards of the International Labour Conference (Conference Committee) in June 2025 on the application of the Convention by Honduras. The Committee further notes the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), received on 2 September 2025. The observations relate to matters examined by the Committee in the present comment.

Follow-up to the conclusions of the Committee on the Application of Standards (International Labour Conference, 113th Session, June 2025)

The Committee notes the discussion that took place in the Conference Committee at the 113th Session (June 2025) of the International Labour Conference, in which the Conference Committee expressed deep concern over the murders of union leaders and the delayed investigations and prosecutions thereof, and also expressed the need for urgent action to strengthen institutional social dialogue. The Conference Committee urged the Government, in consultation with the social partners, to:

• ensure the implementation of the Convention in law and practice through social dialogue free from violence and intimidation; strengthen social dialogue, including the machinery for consultations with workers’ and employers’ organizations, by ensuring their independence and autonomy in law and practice;
• initiate legislative measures and reforms to the Labour Code, in full consultation with the most representative employers’ and workers’ organizations, considering the recommendations of the ILO supervisory bodies, to guarantee the full compliance of national law and practice with the Convention and to provide budgetary support;
• reactivate the Economic and Social Council (CES) and its technical committees and ensure there is adequate financial support and budgetary allocation;
• institutionalize and make effective the participation of the most representative workers’ and employers’ organizations in the National Council for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders;
• ensure that the Committee for the Handling of Disputes referred to the ILO (MEPCOIT) resumes its activities regularly;
• ensure that the Committee on Anti-Union Violence can perform its role and conduct, without delay, independent investigations and proceedings against perpetrators of criminal acts against trade union leaders and provide up-to-date information to the Committee of Experts on the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penalties imposed.

The Conference Committee urged the Government to avail itself, without delay, of technical assistance from the Office to ensure compliance with the Convention in law and practice. The Committee reaffirms the importance of recourse to technical assistance with respect to the matters raised in this comment and notes the ITUC’s indication that the Government should consolidate the steps taken and expand the technical cooperation with the Office.

Trade union rights and civil liberties. In its previous comment, the Committee expressed the strong expectation that the Government would give the Committee against Union Violence, which was established in 2019, inactive between 2021 and 2023, and reactivated in 2024, the necessary and vital impetus for it to fully achieve its objectives and carry out its functions. The Committee urged the Government and all the competent authorities to: (i) continue taking specific and rapid measures, including budgetary measures, to comply fully with the elements in the tripartite agreement of 2019, concerning action against anti-union violence; (ii) institutionalize and make effective the participation of the representative trade unions in the National Council for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders; (iii) draw up a special investigation protocol to enable the Public Prosecutor’s Office to examine, systematically and effectively, any anti-union motives behind the acts of violence affecting members of the trade union movement; (iv) ensure that the criminal courts give priority treatment to cases of anti-union violence; and (v) ensure adequate and prompt protection for all at-risk members of the trade union movement. The Committee asked the Government to provide information on progress made in the investigations and prosecutions relating to the acts of violence which have affected members of the trade union movement.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the status of the investigations and judicial proceedings relating to the murders of members of the trade union movement is unchanged from what was indicated in its previous comment, namely:

• convictions have been handed down in relation to the murders of Claudia Larissa Brizuela Rodríguez, Donatilo Jiménez Euceda, Félix Vásquez, José Ángel Flores and Silmer Dionisio George;
• arrest warrants have been issued in relation to the murders of Héctor Orlando Martínez Motiño and José Adán Mejía Rodríguez (which took place in 2015 and 2020, respectively);
• nine cases of murders which took place between 2010 and 2020 are still being investigated (Sonia Landaverde Miranda, Alfredo Misael Ávila Cantillano, Evelio Posadas Velásquez, Juana Suyapa Posadas Bustillo, Glenda Maribel Sánchez García, Fredy Omar Rodríguez, Oscar Obdulio Turcios Fúnes, Jorge Alberto Acosta Barrientos and Roger Abraham Vallejo Soriano);
• the investigations into the murders in 2023 of 13 persons, including four trade union leaders (Xiomara Cocas, Delmer García, Lesther Almendarez and José Rufino Ortíz) are still in progress; and
• the Government has not provided any information on the status of judicial proceedings relating to the murders of Alma Yaneth Díaz Ortega and Uva Erlinda Castellanos Vigil.

The Committee notes that, according to the Government’s indications to the Conference Committee in June 2025 and as indicated by COHEP in its observations: (i) on 9 May 2025, the rules of procedure of the Committee on Anti-Union Violence (COMCOVIA) received tripartite approval; the work plan was adopted and agreement was reached on a fixed timetable of meetings and training initiatives with the ILO; and (ii) on 13 May 2025 and 30 June 2025 the first two ordinary meetings of the COMCOVIA Technical Subcommittee were held. At those meetings, chaired by the Secretariat of Labour and Social Security (SETRASS), a timetable of activities with four components was approved: strengthening institutions, establishing protection mechanisms, expediting investigations and promoting trade union rights; and representatives of the judicial authorities and the Public Prosecutor’s Office presented reports on the status of proceedings in various cases relating to anti-union violence. The Committee notes that both COHEP and the ITUC indicate that, while they commend the progress made this year in the context of the Committee against Anti-Union Violence, significant challenges remain which, according to COHEP, are mainly due to limitations on structures and resources at the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and also to the failure to establish exact motives in most of the cases reported.

The Committee notes COHEP’s indication that the Secretariat of Labour referred to an inter-institutional agreement which is being concluded with the judiciary, and also trade union training activities coordinated with the ILO, and a pledge was made to carry out internal procedures to guarantee the budget for activities aimed at preventing anti-union violence. Furthermore, in the discussion which took place in the Conference Committee, the Government referred to the signing of a cooperation agreement with the Public Prosecutor’s Office to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of crimes involving anti-union violence and the setting up of a Specialized Trade Union Support Office attached to the Labour Inspectorate. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that various actions have been taken to strengthen protection and ensure the active participation of trade unions in the National Council for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. It also indicates that the Protection System Department has provided both individual and collective assistance to trade unions and human rights defenders, with a particular focus on the most high-profile leaders, and that various types of protection measures have been provided. The Committee notes the ITUC’s indication that this demonstrates that political will has been translated into concrete action.

The Committee notes with interest the above-mentioned developments, which reflect the efforts made to implement the measures requested by the Committee, relating to key aspects of the exercise of the rights enshrined in the Convention. However, the Committee is bound to reiterate its deep concern at the large number of murders of members of the trade union movement and at the fact that various investigations and judicial proceedings relating to murders that occurred more than ten years ago are still awaiting resolution. The Committee urges the Government to continue taking steps to act on its recommendations made in its previous comment. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information in this regard, and also on the judicial investigations and proceedings relating to acts of violence which have affected members of the trade union movement, particularly in the context of the cases referred to above.

Articles 2 et seq. of the Convention. Establishment, autonomy and activities of trade unions. The Committee recalls that it has been requesting the Government for many years to amend the following provisions of the Labour Code to bring them into conformity with the Convention:

• the exclusion from the rights and guarantees of the Convention of workers in agricultural or livestock undertakings which do not permanently employ more than ten workers (section 2(1));
• the prohibition of more than one trade union in a single enterprise (section 472);
• the requirement of at least 30 workers to establish a trade union (section 475);
• the requirement that the officers of a trade union must be of Honduran nationality (sections 510(a) and 541(a)), be engaged in the corresponding activity (sections 510(c) and 541(c)) and be able to read and write (sections 510(d) and 541(d));
• the prohibition on federations and confederations to call strikes (section 537);
• the requirement of a two thirds majority of the votes of the total membership of the trade union organization in order to call a strike (sections 495 and 563);
• the authority of the competent minister to end disputes in oil industry services (section 555(2));
• government authorization or a six-month period of notice for any suspension of work in public services that do not depend directly or indirectly on the State (section 558); and
• the referral to compulsory arbitration, without the possibility of calling a strike for as long as the arbitration award is in force (two years), of collective disputes in public services that are not essential in the strict sense of the term (sections 554(2) and (7), 820 and 826).

In its previous comments, the Committee encouraged the Government and all the parties concerned to make every effort, with the technical support of the Office, to revive the various sectoral committees (technical committees) attached to the Technical Secretariat of the Economic and Social Council (CES), and tripartite discussions were held to enable progress to be made in the implementation of the requested reforms. The Committee noted that although the Sectoral Committee on International Labour Standards (MENIT), the Sectoral Committee on Decent Employment (MSED) and the Law Commission had resumed their activities in 2023, the Committee for the Handling of Disputes referred to the ILO (MEPCOIT), which in 2019 had revisited the subject of reforms to the Labour Code, had not been able to resume its work.

The Committee notes COHEP’s indication that it became chair of the CES on a temporary basis on 7 May 2025 and that it presented an annual work plan. The Government and COHEP indicate that, in the context of the CES ordinary general assembly on 17 May 2025, the MEPCOIT rules of procedure were approved, which constituted major progress not achieved since 2019. COHEP indicates that despite the approval of these rules of procedure, MEPCOIT is still inactive, despite repeated requests made on behalf of the employers to the CES Technical Secretariat, the competent legal body for formally issuing convocations for meetings of the technical committees at the request of the President’s Office, with a view to reactivating their functions. COHEP indicates that even though it sent multiple formal communications, no meetings have been convened. COHEP reiterates its commitment to ensuring the full and efficient operation of the CES, and indicates that it presented a work plan plus a timetable for each of the technical committees, but it has not been possible to implement them because no convocations have been issued. COHEP reiterates its wish to ensure that this situation is resolved without delay so that, in a context of tripartite social dialogue, progress can be made on addressing and resolving the matters which come within the competence of the CES. The Committee also notes that the ITUC recalls the need to revise the national legal framework to bring it into conformity with the provisions of the Convention and indicates that the Government should consolidate the steps already taken, expand the technical cooperation with the Office and work together with the social partners on designing a road map that includes time frames, objectives and periodic evaluation mechanisms. While welcoming the approval of the rules of procedure of MEPCOIT, the Committee notes with regret that the latter has been unable to resume its activities on a regular basis. The Committee notes with deep regret that no steps have been taken so far to amend the above-mentioned provisions of the Labour Code to bring them into conformity with the Convention. In the same way as the Conference Committee, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures as soon as possible to ensure that MEPCOIT resumes its activities on a regular basis and strongly expects that tripartite discussions can be held within it to enable progress to be made on the implementation of the reforms which have been requested for many years. The Committee also trusts that the regular reactivation of MEPCOIT will enable it to play an active and central role in the settlement of labour disputes. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any developments in this regard, and on the actions taken by the sectoral committees.

Penal Code. In its previous comments, after noting some concerns regarding the impact of certain provisions of the Penal Code adopted in 2020 on the free exercise of trade union activities, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the consultation process which the Government indicated had been initiated in this respect. The Committee notes that although the Government reiterates that a consultation process has been launched on the impact of certain provisions of the 2020 Penal Code on the exercise of trade union activities, it does not provide further details in this regard. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide information on the aforementioned consultation process.