Workers Struggles: The Americas Latin America Workers in Nicaraguan free trade zone factory strike over firings, company/union severance agreement Over 1,200 workers at the New Holland Apparel textile plant in Nicaragua struck May 7 following a meeting between union and company representatives in which the firm refused a proposal to pay three months of wages when the plant closes on May 28. Instead, management offered, and the union accepted, a one-time payment of 700 Córdobas, equal to a little less than US$20, an amount called a “joke” by workers. Some 800 workers have signed a petition opposing the agreement “because our rights are violated, and an agreement was made with which we are not in accord.”