State of the Right to Form and Join Unions in Ecuador - Trip Report

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Center for Human Rights of the American Bar Association spent two weeks in Ecuador in July 2022 meeting with workers and unions representing banana, healthcare, fishery, digital platform workers, market vendors and others. Workers within each of these industries are facing different violations of their labor rights. They are facing common barriers to unionizing such as the government’s resistance to recognize industry wide unions, delays with union registration, and retaliation in response to union activity. Those workers who are not recognized as workers under the Labor Code, in addition to not being able to register as unions, are unable to access minimum labor protections. The report covers some of these violations in detail based on the information gathered during the visit. 

Read the full report here (English)

Read the full report here (Spanish)

The views expressed herein represent the opinions of the authors. They have not been reviewed or approved by the House of Delegates or the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association and, accordingly, should not be construed as representing the position of the Association or any of its entities. (ABA Policy and Procedures Handbook, Chapter 5, Part C). Further, nothing in this report should be considered as legal advice in a specific case.