On June 27, union leaders protesting contaminated drinking water and the refusal to negotiate with the union at SAE-A Technotex in Nicaragua were fired by management and forcibly taken out of the factory by riot police.

The police brutal treatment of the leaders and any workers that tried to stop them, including pregnant women, set off a strike by more than 3,000 workers at the factory, which produces t-shirts for Walmart, Target and Kohl's. In the aftermath, the strike was declared illegal and 13 workers were arrested.