AUT: Mex Labor News, March 2, Part 1

[Dan La Botz <103144.2651@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 MEXICAN LABOR NEWS AND ANALYSIS              =

 March 2, 1998
 Vol. III, No. 5
 ----------------------------------------------------------------
                About Mexican Labor News and Analysis

>      Mexican Labor News and Analysis is produced in collaboration
> with the Authentic Labor Front (Frente Autentico del Trabajo -
> FAT) of Mexico and with the United Electrical Workers (UE) of the
> United States and is published the 2nd and 16th of every month. =
>
>
>      MLNA can be viewed at the UE's international web site:
> HTTP://www.igc.apc.org/unitedelect/. For information about direct
> subscriptions, submission of articles, and all queries contact
> editor Dan La Botz at the following e-mail address:
> 103144.2651@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx or call in the U.S. (513) 961-8722.
> The U.S. mailing address is: Dan La Botz, Mexican Labor News and
> Analysis, 3436 Morrison Place, Cincinnati, OH 45220.
>
>      MLNA articles may be reprinted by other electronic or print
> media, but we ask that you credit Mexican Labor News and Analysis
> and give the UE home page location and Dan La Botz's compuserve
> address.
>
>      The UE Home Page which displays Mexican Labor News and
> Analysis has an INDEX of back issues and an URGENT ACTION ALERT
> section.
>
>      Staff: Editor, Dan La Botz; Correspondents in Mexico: Bob
> Briggs, Peter Gellert, Jess Kincaid, Wendy Patterson, Jorge
> Robles, Juan-Carlos Romero, Fred Rosen, Don Sherman, Sam Smucker,
> Linda Stevenson.
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> IN THIS ISSUE:
>                            Part I
>      *Railroad Workers Wildcat Strikes Paralyze Major Line - =
>
>           by Dan La Botz
>      *Government, Pres Launch Anti-Foreign Campaign
>           by Peter Gellert
>      *Han Young Management Violates Agreement.
>      *NAO Hears First Health, Safety Complaint, Against Han Young
>           by Jess David Kincaid
>                            Part II: =
>
>         The State of the Federations: CIPM, UNT, CTM, CT
>      *May First Federation Faces Uncertain Future
>           by Sam Smucker
>      *The UNT Three Months Later: What's Been Done?
>      *The CTM Under Attack: Rich Leaders, Corrupt, Un-Democratic
>      *Congress of Labor at 32: The Crisis of Official Unionism
>      *Sorry, No Social Statistics This time!
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>                RAILROAD WORKERS' WILDCAT STRIKES =
>
>              PARALYZE FREIGHT AND PASSENGER TRAINS
>                          ----------
>           MOVEMENT SPREADS FROM SONORA TO OTHER STATES
>                  FORD, GM, GE PLANTS AFFECTED
>
>                          by Dan La Botz
>
>      Wildcat strikes by several thousand railroad workers,
> beginning in the northern border state of Sonora, have paralyzed
> freight and passenger movements on the Pacific-North Railroad
> line for the last two weeks, and have affected other railways as
> well. The wildcat strike movement, which has not yet been stopped
> or settled, is a response to the privatization of the state-owned
> railroad, the failure of the new owners to re-hire the railroad
> workers, the state's threatened cancellation of the workers'
> collective bargaining agreement, and company chiseling on
> severance pay.
>
>      Railroad workers, supported by their families, entire
> working class communities, students, non-governmental
> organizations and local social movement activists have taken
> engines and cars out of service and have blockaded or destroyed
> railroad track in order to keep the trains from moving. The
> workers' strikes and protests have spread from Sonora to several
> other states, mostly in western and northern Mexico. The Sonora
> governor, legislature, local mayors have been drawn into the
> conflict, as have the three major national political parties.
> This could become another major Mexican political crisis.
>
>      "Sonora has the best conditions for resisting," Salvador
> Zarco of the Committee to Defend the Collective Contract, an
> opposition caucus in the Railroad Workers Union (STFRM) told
> Mexican Labor News and Analysis in a telephone interview. "They
> have the support of the miners, of the telephone workers, of the
> social security workers, of hte teachers, of peasant
> organizations, of the Yaqui Indians who have their own local
> government, as well as of municipal authorities, the governor and
> the state legislature."
>
>           A Break with the Logic of Reform from Above
>
>      This railroad strike--involving thousands of workers in
> several states--represents one of the most important workers'
> movements in recent Mexican history, certainly since early 1980s,
> perhaps since the "workers insurgency" of the 1970s. A movement
> from below of railroad workers, led by rebellious local union
> officials, this strike breaks completely with the logic of recent
> labor movement developments. =
>
>
>      While Mexican labor union officials and political activists
> have been engaged in a struggle between rival "official,"
> reformist, and radical labor federations (the Congress of Labor,
> Confederation of Mexican Workers, National Union of Workers and
> May First Inter-Union Coordinating Committee), suddenly a rank
> and file movement has erupted from below, challenging not only
> the state-party controlled union, but also implicitly challenging
> the idea of reform through reorganization from above.
>
>                     A Grass-Roots Movement
>
>      The strike of Pacific-North, one of Mexico's principal
> railroad lines, began on Feb. 16 in Local 8 of the Mexican
> Railroad Workers Union. Local 8 union leaders in Empalme called a
> general assembly where workers, most of them men in their mid-
> 40s, who decided to shut down the system. Approximately 3,200
> railroad workers in the cities of Nogales, Benjamin Hill,
> Hermosillo and Empalme then stopped company operations. Empalme
> is the headquarters of the company's operations, an important
> railroad center, and has the largest number of Pacific-North
> workers in any single location. =
>
>      =
>
>      In Empalme, the workers, their families, and the towns
> people--thousands of men, women and children--came out to make
> sure the trains didn't roll. When one train did try to leave, the
> crowds forced the train back to the roundhouse.
>
>      The workers were soon joined by members of a local group
> called Broad Front of Social Organizations (FAOS) and by
> acrtivists from the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) who
> came out to help shut down the freight and passenger service.
> Ford Motor company's Hermosillo auto plant was immediately
> affected by the shutdown.
>
>                The Strikers Initial Demands
>
>      One of the workers' local leaders, Jose Guadalupe Esquivel
> Valenzuela, explained that the railroad workers decided to strike
> in order to protest the company's failure to make the bi-weekly
> payroll and to pay severance pay. =
>
>
>      But he said, they also struck because of a decision to be
> made by the Board of Conciliation and Arbitration, Number Four,
> in the Federal District, which was to decide on February 18
> whether or not the workers' collective bargaining agreement was
> to continue in force or to be nullified. =
>
>
>      Workers argued that under the Federal Labor Law (LFT),
> Article 41, the new company must continue to abide by the old
> contract which remains in force. But the state company claimed
> that the old collective bargaining agreement would terminate the
> day the company passed into the hands of its new owners.
>
>      While the collective bargaining agreement was central, it
> became clear within a few days that the workers' key demand was
> that the railroad's new owners rehire all railroad workers
> previously employed by the state-owned company.
>
>                          Privatization
>
>      The strike results from the privatization of the Mexican
> National Railways (FERRONALES) which began two years ago. On
> March 7, 1997, a new private company called Mexican Railways
> (FERROMEX) bought the state's Pacific-North railway line for 524
> million dollars.
>
>      The new company, FERROMEX, is a corsortium made up of
> several Mexican and foreign parties. Jorge Larrea Ortega, the
> mogul who owns Mexicana de Cananea and Mexicana de Cobre, two of
> Mexico's largest copper companies, is the principal figure in the
> Grupo Mexico, which is the major stock holder in FERROMEX. His
> partners include Associated Civil Engineers (ICA), one of
> Mexico's biggest construction companies, and the Union Pacific,
> one of the largest railroad companies in the United States.
> Together these partners form Grupo Ferroviario Mexicano (GFM)
> which in turn owns FERROMEX. =
>
>
>      FERROMEX purchased, the Pacific-North, a 6,521 kilometer
> route which rising north along Mexico's Pacific coast, turns east
> when it nears the U.S. border. Passing through the western states
> of Jalisco, Nayarit, Sinaloa, Sonora, the railway turns east
> through Chihuahua and Coahuila. In addition to the track,
> stations, and roundhouses, the purchase included 405 locomotives
> and 12,591 railway cars of various sorts. =
>
>
>      At the time of purchase, the line employed approximately
> 13,000 workers, members of the Mexican Railroad Workers Union
> (STFRM). Some reports suggested that the company would only
> recontract 3,500 workers, forcing the other 9,500 into early
> retirement or unemployment. Local union leaders, union dissidents
> and workers had been reporting for weeks that the company was
> coercing or cajoling workers to sign voluntary retirement or
> severance agreements. =
>
>
>      Victor Flores Morales, the authoritarian head of the
> Railroad Workers Union, has been an unconditional supporter of
> the Mexican government's policy privatization, and a willing
> partner with the new private owners in carrying out layoffs, re-
> writing collective bargaining agreements, and disciplining
> workers who resisted the state or the company. Until recently, a
> handful of dissident railroad workers have opposed him in the
> face of sometimes violent repression. Now, however, the state,
> the company and Flores Morales are faced with a mass movement
> from below.
>                     Why a Strike in Sonora?
>
>      Few strikes are really spontaneous. Organization precedes
> most activity, and so it was in this case. Two years ago,
> explained Salvador Zarco, a group of dissident railroad workers
> formed the Committee for the Defense of the Collective Bargaining
> Agreement, to fight to defend the workers' union, contract, and
> jobs during the process of privatization a leader of the group.
> Last November, the group organized a caravan involving as many as
> 2,000 railroad workers which marched and rode from Nogales,
> Sonora to Guadaljara, Jalisco. =
>
>
>      The purpose of the caravan was to talk with and distribute
> information to Sonora's railroad workers about the privatization
> process. For example, on the North East line, bought by the
> Transportes Ferroviarios Mexicanos (TFM), with the participation
> of the U.S. corporation Kansas City Industries, the company
> rehired only 4,500 out of 8,700 workers. The collective
> bargaining agreement was reduced from 3,045 clauses to 38
> clauses; the train crews cut from six to three workers; and the
> maximum continuous service time lengthened from 12 to 25-40
> hours.
>
>      After hearing from the caravan's organizers, workers on the
> North-Pacific line could see the handwriting on the wall. Then
> they learned that their new owners would reportedly only rehire
> 2,500 out of 13,500 workers. The organization by the opposition
> group in the union laid the basis for the wildcat strike movement
> by the local activists.
>
>                Industrial Workers with Real Power
>
>      The railroad workers have real economic power in this
> struggle. Northern Mexico, particularly Sonora, has been an
> important industrial area for more than a hundred years, with
> thousands of miners, foundry and smelter workers, and railroad
> workers. But during the last two decades, largely because of the
> proximity of the U.S. border and investments by U.S.
> corporations, a whole northern industrial region has been created
> which includes not only the thousands of maquiladoras on the
> U.S.-Mexican border, but also major auto plants. Many of these
> plants depend on railroad transportation.
>
>      The strike immediately affected operations not only at Ford
> Motor Company, but also at some of Mexico's industrial giants,
> such as CEMEX (Mexican Cement Company), Gamesa, Aceites del Mayo,
> Mexicana de Cananea, and Mexicana de Cobre. In addition,
> thousands of passengers found themselves stranded in Sonora, with
> local city governments scrambling to find them blankets and food.
>
>      The wildcat strike on the Pacific-North line has also had an
> indirect impact on workers on other lines such as Transportes
> Ferroviarios Mexicanos (TFM) to the east. Trains carrying
> containers on that line, bound for the General Motors plant in
> Arizpe, Coahuila were temporarily sidelined. The strike also
> reportedly affected the General Electric plant in Silao.
>
>                Workers Threatened with Prison
>
>      The Mexican government and the employers have forced some
> railroad workers back, but without effectively breaking the
> strike. The government brought charges against the workers of
> Local 8 for the felony of "obstruccion of general ways of
> communication." Those and other pressures led the workers of
> Empalme to return to work with a local agreement last Wednesday,
> Feb. 25. But at the same time, workers in Local 40 in Benjamin
> Hill stopped the trains, with the same result--still nothing
> moves on the Pacific-North line. =
>
>
>      Mexican authorities reportedly dispatched a military train
> to the north. No serious violence between the army or police and
> the strikers have been reported so far.
>
>                     The Strike Spreads
>
>      In Sonora, the strikers won support of local governments.   =
>
> The PRD mayor Jesus Avila Godoy of Empalme, and mayor Sara Valle
> Dessens of Guaymas, expressed their solidarity with the strike.
> Local merchants also supported the railroad workers. The governor
> of Sonora and the Sonora legislature also came out in support of
> the workers.
>
>      The strike also quickly spread far beyond Sonora. The strike
> in Sonora had the effect of stopping and backing up trains
> throughout the system, and from other systems as well. Learning
> of the strike in Sonora, workers in the states of Sinaloa and
> Jalisco held meetings, engaged in sit-ins, demonstrations, and
> other forms of protest.
>
>      In Aguascalientes, workers demanded to be rehired. Some
> seventy machinists' helpers said they would fix the machines so
> they wouldn't work if everyone didn't get their job back. In
> Ciudad Juarez, workers met in "permanent assembly," while waiting
> to see that everyone was re-hired. They said they want protection
> for all workers, especially those over 50 years old.
>
>      In Mexico City, 200 members of the dissident National
> Coordinating Committee for Defense of the Collective Contract,
> marched and demonstrated in support Local 8. Leaders of the
> dissident movement, Enrique Oropeza and Francisco Zarco, called
> for the expulsion from the union of Victor Flores. The alliance
> between Committee for Defense of the Contract and the Local 8
> strikers represents an important development, giving the worker
> activists in Sonora a connection to the union's opposition caucus
> in Mexico City.
>
>                Victor Flores Signs New Contract
>
>      Three days after the strike began, the Railroad Workers
> Union leader, Victor Flores Morales, told workers that like it or
> not, they would have to accept their severance or retirement,
> before they could be rehired by the new company. =
>
>
>      Flores Morales also signed a new collective bargaining
> agreement with the company, in which he claimed to have saved
> most of the workers' conditions. The contract provided for a 15
> percent wage increase, with the possibility of 40 percent in
> productivity bonuses, life insurance for workers, and
> scholarships for railroad workers' children. In terms of
> conditions, the company wanted a four man crew, but the new
> contract calls for a "complete crew" of six, that is, a
> machinist, assistant machinist, conductor and three brakemen.
>
>      Secretary of Labor Javier Bonilla praised the new contract,
> "for embodying the concepts of the new labor culture," of
> employer-union cooperation. The Secretary of Communication and
> Transportation, Carlos Ruiz also praised the contract as
> promoting the development of a safe, efficient and modern
> transportation system. =
>
>
>      Workers in Local 8 in Sonora, however, rejected the new
> contact as another betrayal. Carlos Figueroa Ramos, the STFRM
> Local 8 leader told the press that the workers' job security,
> remains "an unfulfilled promise." Local 8 has demanded the new
> collective bargaining agreement must protect the jobs of all
> 13,500 workers. Workers in Local 40 now continue the strike.
>
>      Now, after two weeks of the workers' wildcat strikes, the
> Mexican legislature and the national parties, particularly the
> left-of-center Party of the Democratic Revolution and the
> conservative National Action Party have been drawn into attempts
> to resolve the issues.
>                               ###
>
>           GOVERNMENT, PRESS LAUNCH ANTI-FOREIGN CAMPAIGN
>
>                          by Peter Gellert
>
>      With immediate term prospects for peace in Chiapas rapidly
> fading, a mounting campaign is underway against the presence of
> foreign observers and politically conscious tourists for
> allegedly exacerbating the conflict.
>
>      Since the Chiapas rebellion began in January 1994 and
> especially since the massacre of 45 defenseless Indian peasants
> this past December 22, thousands of foreign visitors have poured
> into Chiapas. Last week, more than 200 European and Canadian
> human rights observers arrived in the state to obtain first-hand
> knowledge of the situation.
>
>      Foreign observers, in addition to highlighting the Mexican
> government's isolation on an international plane and providing
> the troops for the solidarity movement abroad, have played an
> important role as a buffer against further military repression of
> indigenous communities. As such, they are undoubtedly a thorn in
> the government's side.
>
>                International Red Cross Expelled
>
>      Indeed, for the past two weeks, the government and pro-
> government media have been on a campaign footing, charging that
> many of the foreign observers and tourists are intervening in
> Mexican politics, thus violating the country's national
> sovereignty and should be expelled. =
>
>
>      The International Red Cross has been forced to abandon
> Chiapas since mid-January at the request of the Mexican Red
> Cross. The Mexico representative of the international relief
> organization, Philippe Gaillard, termed the decision
> "regrettable," and said that providing humanitarian aid to
> displaced refugees is not a form of interference in Mexican
> domestic political affairs.
>
>      The opening shot in this new strategy came from none other
> than president Ernest Zedillo himself. In a speech three weeks
> ago, Zedillo said it was inadmissible that foreigner, under the
> cover of humanitarian reasons, be directly involved in the
> Chiapas conflict.
>
>                Foreigners in Rebel Leadership?
>
>      A controversial television program last week claimed
> foreigners were present in areas held by the Zapatista Army of
> National Liberation (EZLN) and participated directly in the rebel
> leadership. The popular weekly political magazine PROCESO has
> charged that the program was produced in collaboration with the
> Interior Ministry.
>
>      Part of the controversy has centered on Danielle Mitterand,
> widow of the deceased French president, who had been accused of
> involvement in Mexican political activities. National immigration
> institute commissioner Alejandro Carrillo Castro said Mitterand
> is not barred from the country, but has been warned.
>
>      In the past year more than 200 foreigners have been deported
> for alleged political activities in Chiapas. But in recent days,
> Mexican immigration agents have taken the unprecedented step of
> stopping tourists in the street, in their hotels, and even in
> travel agencies, demanding their documents and interrogating them
> at length. Some restaurants and other commercial establishments
> in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas are reportedly refusing
> service to foreign tourists who fit the bill for being observers.
>
>      On February 18, former Pastor for Peace leader Tom Hansen
> was detained and deported, despite having obtained an injunction.
> He was not allowed to see a lawyer or call the U.S. Embassy.
>
>                Lopez Obrador: Government Hypocritical
>
>      Critics were not impressed by the government stance. The
> national president of the Party of the Democratic Revolution
> (PRD), Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, expressed a widely-held view
> when he said that the government's approach is "hypocritical."
> "They go to washing and hand over the nation's wealth, they
> accept recommendations from the International Monetary Fund on
> economic policy, but when it comes to Chiapas, then they want to
> look very nationalistic."
>
>      Others charge the campaign is both xenophobic and racist for
> presuming that the Indian population would not be capable of
> recognized and fighting for its rights were it not for the
> prodding of foreigners.
>
>      Mexicans are, of course, very sensitive on the question of
> foreign interference in the country's domestic affairs, given
> more than 150 years of virtually non-stop U.S. pressure,
> interference, and intervention. When the Chiapas uprising broke
> out, the government's first response was to play the foreign
> intervention card, charging the Zaptistas with having foreigners
> in their leadership. When public opinion failed to respond, the
> powers-that-be rapidly dropped the issue, and publicly
> acknowledge that the rebels were a Mexican movement, with an
> Indian majority.
>
>      Despite a well orchestrated campaign wage daily in the mass
> media, and backed by businessmen, some cleric, the National
> Action Party (PAN) legislators and the Institutional
> Revolutionary Party (PRI) leaders, the Mexican non-government
> organizations and Chiapas indigenous groups have successfully
> repudiated the government's claims and resisted the attack.
>
>                            ###
>
>                NAO HEARS HAN YOUNG COMPLAINT;
>             FIRST WORKERS' HEALTH AND SAFETY CASE
>
>                   by Jess David Kincaid
>                =
>
>      Witnesses including workers, labor lawyers, and occupational
> health and safety specialists testified before officials from the
> U.S. National Administrative Office (NAO) at a February 18
> hearing in San Diego as part of investigations into a complaint
> regarding conditions at a Tijuana maquiladora plant. Korean-owned
> Han Young de Mexico manufactures truck chassis for the
> multinational Hyundai Precision Motor and is accused of violating
> the labor side accord of the North American Free Trade Agreement
> (NAFTA) by subverting a union organizing drive as well as by
> violating health and safety laws.
>
>      The Han Young case is the first time that allegations of
> health and safety misconduct have been brought before the NAO. =
>
> The investigations result from a complaint filed last October
> with the NAO by a coalition of groups from the U.S., Mexico, and
> Canada alleging violations of freedom of association and the
> right to organize. Further charges alleging health and safety
> violations were added to the complaint at the end of January by
> the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers, Southern
> California WorkSafe!, and the United Steel Workers.
>
>      Witnesses described hazardous conditions in a number of
> areas including lack of available and appropriate protective
> equipment, unsafe machinery, and excessive production demands.
> Workers testified that the union representatives who were charged
> with defending their interests were not to be found inside the
> factory. Welder Armando Hernandez Roman stated that when workers
> became fed up with unsafe conditions, rather than working through
> a union representative they organized themselves and went to
> speak with management directly.
>
>      In addition to the health and safety concerns, witnesses
> returned again and again to the union-busting techniques employed
> by Han Young and Mexican labor authorities to subvert workers'
> organizing efforts. Workers, organizers, and labor lawyers
> described an on-going campaign by management including
> intimidation and bribery, as well as the refusal of the local
> labor board in Tijuana to certify an independent victory after a
> representation election in September. =
>
>
>             Management: All Companies Have Problems
>
>      In earlier testimony, Ho Young "Pablo" Kang, General Manager
> at Han Young, maintained that the company had done its best to
> comply with safety codes and had consistently supplied its
> workers with the appropriate equipment. He admitted that
> government inspections had found infractions at the plant, but
> rebuked the idea that they were serious. "Every company has
> problems," he said.
>
>      Reports supplied in the complaint from Mexico's Department
> of Labor (STPS), state that 22 health and safety violations were
> identified in a June 1997 inspection at Han Young. Afterward the
> agency ordered 23 corrective actions to occur at the plant, all
> within 25 working days. When the STPS inspected again in
> September, they found that the company had failed to comply with
> six of these measures. According to a separate survey supplied in
> the complaint conducted in November, the failure by the company
> to alleviate health and safety hazards was even more serious. =
>
>
>      Han Young workers identified 11 of the original problems
> found by the government inspections as continuing to remain
> unabated. According to the North American Agreement on Labor
> Cooperation, NAALC, health and safety violations are one of only
> three types of violations---the others being child labor and
> minimum wage--which can lead to sanctions against the offending
> country. Monetary penalties are also possible: according to some
> reports Mexico could be fined up to .007 percent of its annual
> trade with the United States, which could exceed $50 million.
>
>      NAO Secretary Irasema Garza headed the U.S. Department of
> Labor panel that presided over the hearing. Garza, a
> Spanish-speaker who took questions from Mexican press during a
> recess in the proceedings, recommended ministerial consultations
> in three previous cases alleging violations of freedom of
> association and the right to organize, the strongest action
> possible by the NAO in such cases. Her report on the results of
> the hearing and other investigations is expected in two weeks.   =
>
>
>                     Pressure on Mexico
>
>      The likelihood of the NAO process leading to sanctions or
> other top level punishments is mitigated by the fact that
> according to NAO procedures, all of the NAFTA-participating
> governments must give their consent to punitive actions--meaning,
> in effect, that Mexico would have to agree to sanction or fine
> itself.
>
>      Even if the process does not lead to formal results of the
> complaint, many labor activists are hopeful about the complaint's
> ability to improve Mexican labor conditions. Mary Tong of the San
> Diego-based Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers stated that
> she felt that the members of the examining NAO panel had
> demonstrated an understanding of what she referred to as the
> "shenanigans of the Mexican labor boards". She hopes that the
> in-house politicking that goes along with the publicity of the
> complaint will put the pressure on for Mexico to make changes.   =
>
>
>      Federal officials from the Department of Labor and Social
> Welfare (STPS) reportedly arrived in Tijuana the day after the
> hearing, announcing plans for a new federal labor board in
> Tijuana as well as a statewide branch of the STPS in Baja. They
> also reportedly announced that the STPS would fine Han Young
> 72,000 pesos (about $9,000 US) for failing to correct the health
> and safety violations cited in three earlier inspections. =
>
>
>                               ###
>
>           HAN YOUNG MANAGEMENT VIOLATES AGREEMENTS:
>           GOVERNMENT UNIONS AND SCABS BACK IN PLANT    =
>
>
>      Workers at the Han Young auto-parts plant in Tijuana, Baja
> California won two representation elections, and should be in the
> process of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement. But
> while no progress has been made yet on that front, the
> government-controlled labor unions have returned to the plant to
> hold meetings with workers, and the company has brought in scab
> workers.
>
>      On two occasions, workers at the plant voted to affiliated
> with the Independent Metal Workers Union (STIMAHCS) affiliated
> with the Authentic Labor Front (FAT). This was the first such
> victory by an independent union in the border plants known as
> maquiladoras, that is a union not controlled by the Institutional
> Revolutionary Party (PRI) government. Workers won the election
> with the support of both FAT and the San Diego-based Support
> Committee for Maquiladora Workers (SCMW). =
>
>
>      In clear violation of the January 14 agreements reached
> between the Han Young workers, the company, and the labor
> authorities, government-controlled labor unions--the
> Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasant (CROC) and the
> Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM)--have visited the plant
> and held meetings with workers. =
>
>
>      Last week the company also brought in 27 new workers from
> the state of Veracruz. Sources report that this is the first of
> two busloads of non-union workers the company has recruited. The
> company has also reportedly been "padding the books" with
> CROC-affiliated workers who are not actually working in the
> plant. The company appears to be preparing the plant for the CTM
> or CROC to call for a new election to throw out the independent
> union. =
>
>
>      Workers in the plant have reportedly developed new
> strategies to resist the employer and the official union should
> they attempt to foist a government union on them again.
>
>      Over the course of the last month, workers have engaged in a
> number of in-plant actions that have met with positive results.
> For example, in January there was a week of one-to-two-hour work
> stoppages daily to protest discrimination against independent
> union members and to demand the removal of the CROC
> representative who also doubled as the company's human resources
> manager. To protest dramatic increases in quotas  for production
> bonuses, workers carried out a week-long refusal to meet the
> quotas. The workers' slow down, led the company to stop
> pressuring the workers. =
>
>      =
>
>      The Campaign for Labor rights in Washington, D.C. has called
> for people in the United States and Canada to hold public
> demonstrations in solidarity with the Han Young workers. =
>
>
>      On April 18, the second International Nike Mobilization will
> join forces with protests against the proposed Free Trade Area of
> the Americas and other pending trade agreements which promote the
> power of corporations over the rights of working people. The
> Campaign for Labor Rights suggests that this would be an
> excellent opportunity for Han Young supporters both to raise the
> issue of the Han Young struggle specifically and, more generally,
> to form alliances around the issue of "free trade." =
>
>
>                     Evictions at Maclovio Rojas
>
>      In a related matter, the Support Committee for Maquiladora
> Workers reported last week that the Mexican government sought to
> evict the residents of Maclovio Rojas, the community adjoining
> some of Hyundai Precision America's operations near Tijuana.
>
>      As community security patrols got the news out that state
> authorities and federal judicial police were forcing families
> from their homes, the community mobilized. Government officials
> succeeded in evicting only six families with their possessions,
> before they encountered between 300 and 400 people, residents of
> the community, in a demonstration that blocked the adjacent
> highway. =
>
>
>      After about an hour, state government representatives
> announced that they had made an mistake. The officials and the
> police left and the six families were assisted in returning to
> their homes with their possessions.
>
> [Information provided by the Support Committee for Maquiladora
> Workers and Campaign for Labor Rights. For more information
> contact: Labor Alerts: a service of Campaign for Labor Rights. To
> receive the Labor Alerts e-mail, send a message to
> CLR@xxxxxxxxxxx  Phone: (541) 344-5410  Web site:
> http://www.compugraph.com/clr Membership/newsletter. Send $35.00
> to Campaign for Labor Rights, 1247 "E" Street SE, Washington, DC
> 20003. Sample newsletter available on request.]
>
>                              ###
>
>                HEARING SET FOR ECHLIN NAO COMPLAINT
>
>                     by Jess David Kincaid
>
>      Officials with the U.S. National Administrative Office (NAO)
> will hear testimony on March 23 regarding a complaint alleging
> that the multinational Echlin Inc. and a Mexico subsidiary
> cooperated with the government-affiliated Confederation of
> Mexican Workers (CTM) to stop a union organizing drive in one of
> its Mexico City plants.  =
>
>
>      The Washington, D.C. hearing comes just one month after
> similar charges were heard by an NAO panel in San Diego regarding
> labor abuses in Mexico. The event marks an increasing effort by
> unions and other workers' groups in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico
> to utilize the administrative machinery put in place by the NAFTA
> labor side accord.  =
>
>
>      The hearing results from a December submission which was
> brought before the U.S. NAO by a number of labor and human rights
> groups from the three countries, among them the Echlin Alliance,
> a group of unions representing Echlin workers including the
> Teamsters and the United Electrical Workers (UE). On February 25,
> petitioners filed an amendment including new charges of an attack
> on Mexican workers and organizers that occurred at another Mexico
> City Echlin subsidiary subsequent to the filing of the original
> complaint.
>                     Health and Safety
>
>      The new submission also expands on alleged health and safety
> violations, with affidavits detailing conditions in the plant
> including exceedingly high exposure to asbestos and solvents. The
> labor groups charge that Mexico violated international and
> domestic labor law as well as its commitments under NAFTA by
> failing to guarantee workers=92 rights to free association and the
> right to organize, and failing to enforce health and safety
> regulations. Mexican labor authorities are further charged with
> ignoring and in some cases participating in these abuses. =
>
>
>      The complaint accuses the Echlin subsidiary ITAPSA and the
> CTM (the largest government-sanctioned union in Mexico) of
> engaging in a campaign of intimidation to discourage workers from
> voting for the independent Metal Workers Union (STIMAHCS) in a
> representation election held on September 9, 1997. Workers who
> support the independent union say that they attempted to certify
> STIMAHCS as their representative in order to rectify health and
> safety problems as well as other issues confronting them at their
> plant--conditions which they say the CTM, the union which
> currently represents ITAPSA workers, refuses to address.
>
>                     Threats and Violence
>
>      The submission also alleges that representatives of ITAPSA-
> Echlin and the CTM worked closely together to deprive workers of
> their rights of freedom of association by engaging in
> surveillance of employees, threatening employees and their
> families with loss of work and violence if they supported
> STIMAHCS, discharging approximately 50 employees who were
> suspected of being union supporters, and retaliating in a variety
> of ways against workers for initiating the independent union
> campaign.
>
>      In addition, the petitioners charge that 170 armed thugs
> were brought into the plant on the eve of the September election
> at the direction of Echlin and the CTM. These thugs allegedly
> occupied the plant during the election, threatening voters both
> inside and outside the plant with physical violence and rape in
> order to intimidate workers and stop them for voting for an
> independent union, and are accused of beating one STIMAHCS
> representative while the election was taking place.
>
>      This campaign of violence allegedly continued at the Echlin
> subsidiary American Brakebloc in December. Charges added to the
> complaint in February assert that ITAPSA workers and STIMACHS
> organizers who went to the factory to leaflet and speak with
> other Echlin workers were attacked by CTM thugs who smashed the
> windows of their van and seriously injured an American Brakebloc
> employee they believed to be one of the leafletters.
>
>      The February amendment to the complaint also includes
> further documentation of alleged health and safety violations
> including inadequate and inappropriate protective equipment, lack
> of worker training, and lack of written safety information for
> workers. Affidavits describe workers who lost fingers in
> machinery, the chronic malfunction of equipment and the lack of
> guards and lockout/tagout during cleaning and repair. =
>
>
>      Other serious accusations include the absence of a safety
> commission, excessive noise, lack of ventilation, lack of
> adequate medical services, defective electrical wiring and
> inadequate preparation in the event of fire. Asbestos exposure
> was allegedly extended to workers' families due to inadequate
> change and shower facilities and the fact that asbestos
> -contaminated overalls were worn home for laundering. =
>
>
>      The amendment also adds new petitioners, including the
> United Auto Workers, the International Union of Electrical
> workers (IUE), Jobs with Justice, the Maquiladora Health and
> Safety Support Network, and several Mexican workers' rights
> organizations. They joined dozens of other unions and social
> organizations from the three NAFTA countries who originally
> submitted the complaint, including seven major U.S. and Canadian
> unions and their locals which represent Echlin workers throughout
> the U.S. and Canada. =
>
>
>      Among the petitioners are the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW),
> the garment and textile worker union UNITE, Mexico=92s Authentic
> Labor Front(FAT), and both the Canadian and U.S. sections of the
> United Steel Workers of America (USWA). The petitioners have
> requested that steps be taken to reinstate all of the fired
> workers with full compensation and with guarantees that all
> ITAPSA employees be protected from further deprivation of their
> associational rights, harassment, intimidation, violence,
> threats, interrogation and surveillance. The complaint asks that
> the company comply with requirements regarding health and safety
> including protection from asbestos exposure, provision of
> adequate protective equipment, and that the appropriate
> authorities conduct a plant inspection under conditions which
> ensure a fair and accurate job.
>      =
>
>      Petitioners have also asked that the Mexican government
> guarantee that workers in Mexico are able to exercise the right
> to organize into independent trade unions free of intimidation
> and the threat of loss of work. They ask that the government
> clean up the elections process, specifically that it provide
> secret ballot elections at neutral locations, that it suspend
> elections where violations of protected rights have occurred, and
> that Mexican labor authorities responsible for conducting such
> elections by impartial. In addition to other demands, they ask
> that the Mexican government establish a public registry of unions
> and contracts, since such information is not available to Mexican
> workers and unions.
>                               ###
>
>        End of Part I - Be Sure you also receive Part II.
>


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