Export processing zones (FTZ) in Nicaragua

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Labour Conflict Highlights EPZ Firms' Importance
By Roberto Fonseca, IPS, 24 July 1998. In early 1998, Chentex—the largest clothing manufacturer in Nicaragua's export-processing zones (EPZs)—announced that it would withdraw from Nicaragua in the face of a disput with its workers. However, following an agreement between management and the union, the Taiwanese-owned company has decided to renew its contracts. Exports from the EPZ sector dwarf Nicaragua's coffee, sugar and seafood exports.
Union-busting in Nicaragua's free trade zone
Labor Alerts, 3 February 2000. The Nicaraguan Labor Ministry, the new management of Nicaragua's free trade zone and some factory managers appear to be engaged in an effort to rid the free trade zone of unions. With independent (non-company) unions recognized in five or more factories, Nicaragua is a leader in Central America for union organizing in its maquiladora (assembly for export) sector. Destruction of the maquiladora unions in Nicaragua would represent a setback for the entire region.
Free Trade Zone Factory Management Humiliates Workers
Nicaragua Network Hotline, 28 October 2002. Hundreds of workers at the King Yong garment factory in Managua protested last week that the Korean owners of the factory are violating their labor and human rights. Harling Bobadilla, of the Garment Workers Federation cites their complaints about management.