 Arévalo 's response toward the non @-@ communist unions was mixed . In 1945 , he criminalized all rural labor unions in workplaces with fewer than 500 workers , which included most plantations . One of the few unions big enough to survive this law was of the banana workers employed by the UFC . In 1946 this union organized a strike , which provoked Arévalo into outlawing all strikes until a new labor code was passed . This led to efforts on the part of employers to stall the labor code , as well as to exploit workers as far as possible before it was passed . The unions were also damaged when the US government persuaded the American Federation of Labor to found the Organización Regional Internacional del Trabajo ( <unk> ) , a union that took a virulently anti @-@ communist stance . 
