Ties that Bind: Working Class Solidarity during the 1954 Banana Strike in Honduras

The 1954 Banana Strike in the North Coast of Honduras, the country’s largest and most influential strike to date, exists in the collective memory of Hondurans, cloaked under competing narratives. The national narrative of this contentious period elevated the role of the banana worker in Honduran history but also simultaneously veiled the diversity of the workforce and muted the contributions of informal workers of the banana plantations (UFCo and Standard Fruit), many of them women. The banana strike, which initiated among UFCo workers, first garnered support among local merchants and Honduran mestizos in nearby areas. It spread to the other banana plantations and eventually grew into a National movement, one that garnered the support of workers in textile factories and other labor sectors. This paper will explore the solidarity ties built among banana workers in domestic efforts, where solidarity across gender was significant. These ties also extended among different labor sectors that opened the door to into international solidarity. By looking at the transnationality of labor solidarity, inclusive of women, in mid-century Honduras, we can see the importance of labor struggles in the region, beyond the traditional union.