Layoffs

A union leader called the suspension of 300 workers at a garment factory in El Progreso an indirect layoff, warning that after 120 days without work most lose their jobs permanently and urging affected employees to file a collective claim for severance and benefits.

Education Minister Arely Argueta said the ministry is analyzing which support staff to cut from schools, citing excess administrative personnel; about 2,000 civil-service employees have already been dismissed nationwide, prompting protests from parents, teachers, and unions.

Parents, students, and residents blocked the road from Tegucigalpa to Olancho to demand reinstatement of an office worker, cleaner, and security guard fired from Instituto Técnico Río Abajo after years of employment, causing traffic delays.

A labor confederation representative estimates that about 40% of Honduras's maquiladoras (assembly factories) have shut down, severely impacting employment and family incomes in the northern industrial zone.