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Nicaragua Organized Labor
All public- and private-sector workers, except the
military
and the police, are entitled to join a union. The estimate
of the
number of workers in unions varies considerably, but some
labor
leaders place the number as high as 50 percent. Unions are
required to register with the Ministry of Labor and must
be
granted legal status before they can bargain collectively;
however, some labor groups complain of intentional delays
in this
legalization process. Unions are allowed to freely
associate with
each other or with international labor organizations.
The country's two largest unions, the Sandinista
Workers'
Federation (Central Sandinista de Trabajadores--CST) and
the
Association of Agricultural Workers (Asociación de
Trabajadores
del Campo--ATC), are associated with the Sandinista
political
party and are also a part of the umbrella group for all
Sandinista unions, the National Workers' Front (Frente
Nacional
de Trabajadores--FNT). Three smaller unions, the General
Confederation of Workers--Independent (Confederación
General de
Trabajadores Independiente--CGT-I), the Federation for
Trade
Union Action and Unity (Central de Acción y Unidad
Sindical--
CAUS), and the Workers' Front (Frente Obrero--FO), are
affiliated
with leftist political parties. The Social Christian
Workers'
Front (Frente de Trabajadores Socialcristianos--FTS) has
ties
with the Nicaraguan Social Christian Party (Partido Social
Cristiano Nicaragüense--PSCN). Workers in various sectors
of the
economy, including health care, transportation, coffee,
livestock, and agriculture, have their own unions.
Data as of December 1993
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