AUT: Part 3, Mex Labor News, Jan 1999

[Dan La Botz <103144.2651@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

     PART 3 MEXICAN LABOR NEWS AND ANALYSIS, JANUARY 16, 1999
               BE SURE THAT YOU HAVE PARTS 1 & 2
----------------------------------------------------------------
          CONGRESS OF LABOR CONTINUES TO DETERIORATE;
      LOPEZ MAYREN MAY BE REPLACED BY RODRIGUEZ ALCAINE

     Mexico=92s  official  state-controlled labor federations
appear to continue to deteriorate. With most of the government
labor unions disappointed with the performance of Joel Lopez
Mayren, interim head of the Congress of Labor (CT), some union
leaders are now calling for him to be succeeded by Leonardo
Rodriguez Alcaine, the leader of the Confederation of Mexican
Workers (CTM). This appears to be a move intended to help the
Institutional Revolutionary Party recoup its loss of labor union
and working class voters in recent elections. But Rodriguez
Alcaine has proven to be such an erratic, cantankerous, and
ineffective leader of the CTM, the largest of the several pro-
government federations, that there is little enthusiasm for him,
and less confidence that he would make a difference. =


     The Congress of Labor (CT), generally seen as a political
appendage of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI),
represents the 36 pro-government labor federations and unions to
which most Mexican workers belong. The CT presidency generally
rotates among the leaders of the most important of the member
federations. The next CT president will be elected this month,
January. =


     A little over a year ago the CT split, leading to the
creation of a new labor federation, the National Union of Workers
(UNT) which has quickly come to be seen as a political
alternative to the CT and CTM. Since that time the CT under the
leadership of Lopez Mayren and the CTM under the direction of
Rodriguez Alcaine, have failed to respond effectively to the
deteriorating purchasing power of Mexican workers, to say nothing
of the larger questions of the Mexican economy, labor unions, and
workers. =


     The current bureaucratic struggle over the leadership of the
CT reflects the continuing debilitation of the government=92s
federations which have proven incapable of responding to Mexico=92s
economic crisis and unwilling to break with old style politics.

                              ###       =


          CANANEA STRIKE CONTINUES AND COULD SPREAD;
           U.S. UNIONS OFFER SOLIDARITY AND SUPPORT
     =

     The strike by Local 65 of the Miners and Metal Workers Union
of Mexico (STMMRM) against the Cananea Mining Company threatened
to spread to other copper mines, and at the same time the
beleaguered strikers received support from U.S. labor unions.

     The Mexican miners=92 union filed strike notification with the
government labor board in late December indicating that it will
strike all 22 mines in the Grupo Industrial Minera Mexico which
owns Cananea.

     In Cananea  workers blocked access to a neighborhood where
50 company officials reside, as well as blocking the country club
to which the executives and managers belong. A group of 600
workers also took over the town hall to bring their problems to
the attention of the government. =


     For its part, the company filed complaints against Local 65
with the state Attorney General arguing that workers had seized
or blocked access to company buildings and threatened company
officials and workers.

     The strike in the northern border state of Sonora by 2,100
miners against Mexico=92s largest copper mine began on November 19,
1998. The strike started after the company laid off workers and
announced wage cuts, but the company claims the strike is
illegal.

               Arizona Unions Show Solidarity

      Cananea is only about 50 miles southwest of Douglas and 110
miles southeast of Tucson, Arizona, and the Arizona organized
labor movement has come to the aid of the Cananea strikers.
Gerardo "Gerry" Acosta, Arizona State Field Director for the AFL-
CIO, told MEXICAN LABOR NEWS AND ANALYSIS that both the Central
Labor Council of Tucson and Phoenix, headed by president Ted
Murphy, and the Southern Arizona Labor Council, led by president
Ian Robinson, as well as the state AFL-CIO under the direction of
Secretary Treasurer Chuck Huggins have all thrown themselves into
support for the Cananea the strike, as have several religious
organizations and community groups. Tim Beatty, the AFL-CIO
representative based in Mexico City, has also become involved in
organizing the international solidarity effort.

     At a rally held in Tucson on December 5, four Mexican miners
from Local 65 spoke to U.S. labor unionists and other interested
U.S. citizens about the issues behind the strike. The miners who
earn between $7 and $14 per day, explained that the company had
closed departments, laid off workers, and cut workers=92 wages. In
particular, the strikers expressed concern about the layoff off
135 workers responsible for the mine=92s waste pond. Enrique Leon
of Local 65 explained that without adequate supervision the pond
could contaminate the Sonora River which provides drinking water
for Hermosillo, the state capital.  This could be an ecological
disaster,  said Leon. =


     Reynaldo Palomino, also of Local 65, said the company had
exploited both the workers and the environment and taken actions,
 that are not in the best interest of the people of Mexico.  =


     Various Arizona union leaders--from Ray Figueroa of AFSCME,
to Henry Montagno of the Operating Engineers, and Bill Turner of
te IBEW -have pledged their support for the Mexican strikers.

      The immediate concern was to get food there,  said Acosta.
 If they=92re going to win, they=92re going to need food, because
they are literally being starved to death. =


     On December 18 the Arizona unions, religious and community
organizations drove a caravan of cars and trucks down to Cananea
and were met by 2,700 cheering men, women and children. The U.S.
unions presented five truck loads of food, blankets and clothes
to the striking Mexican miners, though the Arizona unionists
noted that the Mexicans cheered  more for the show of solidarity
than for the food.  Arizona AFL-CIO affiliates are also raising
money to support the strike and to purchase rice, beans, lentils
and dry milk.

     The Arizona unions have planned a rally in support of their
Mexican brothers and sisters on January 27 and another food drop
on January 30. =


     (Those interested in contributing to support the Mexican
miners should make checks payable to: Labor=92s Community Service
Agency, and send them to Labor=92s Community Service Agency, 5818
North 7th Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85014, Room 202. For further
information the phone number is (602) 263-5741.)

                              ###

          CUSTOM-TRIM WORKERS WIN LABOR BOARD DECISION:
        RETURNED TO JOBS WITH BACK PAY WILL BREED COMPLY?
          =

     Workers at Custom-Trim, an auto parts plant in Valle
Hermoso, Tamaulipas, won a rare victory before the Board of
Conciliation and Arbitration. But they have yet to win compliance
from the company which has passed on to new owners.

     The 28 Custom-Trim workers were notified on January 6 that
the company had been ordered to reinstate them at their jobs with
full back pay. The Board's decision was formally filed on
December 16. The Custom-Trim Company, which had been acquired by
Breed Technologies) had 15 days to file a appeal of the decision.

     The fight at Custom-Trim began in May 1997 when 240 workers
began to pressure the company for improvements in their
collective bargaining agreement. The workers demanded a salary
increase above the $35 per week wages they received, profit
sharing, information on chemical hazards, safety equipment,
improved cafeteria services, and air conditioning in the plant.
When management refused their demands, workers walked off the
assembly lines. When talks broke down, management told the
workers that if they did not return to work, they would be fired.

     The company attempted to induce the workers to return by
offering them a profit sharing  bonus  of 430 pesos (US$43) per
worker, while the workers=92 other demands were refused. The
workers ignored threats from the company and maintained their
position on the plant grounds. Management then locked them inside
the premises, and told them they were all fired. =


                    Role of the CTM

     On the fifth day of the strike, workers learned that
management had signed a secret contract with the head of the
Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), the largest of Mexico=92s
government-controlled unions, on the first day of the strike.
With that revelation, negotiations between the workers and the
company broke down.

     Feeling they had little choice, the workers moved to end the
strike. On May 23, 1997, Custom-Trim workers, the state and local
Boards of Conciliation and Arbitration, the union delegates, and
management met to resolve the conflict. Because of the secret
contract between management and the union, workers had to accept
the company=92s bonus offer, and workers agree to sign a statement
that they would not strike again, so long as they were allowed to
return to work without reprisals or harassment. =


     Despite that agreement, in June 1997 Custom-Trim pressured
28 strike leaders to sign a statement informing them that they
were being fired for illegal strike activity. Most refused to
sign, and began a struggle for reinstatement at their jobs. In
August 1997 the Custom-Trim Workers Committee filed a complaint
with the Board of Conciliation and Arbitration, demanding that
workers be reinstated and that severance payments be made. =


     In addition to their complaint with the Board of
Conciliation and Arbitration, on May 19, 1998 the workers also
filed a petition for inspecton with the Mexican Department of
Labor (STPS) to follow up on their claims regarding hazardous
working conditions inside the plant. =


                    Worker Threatened

     One of the fired workers, Salvador Bravo, and his family,
were threatened shortly after he returned from a Jobs with
Justice campaign in Canada at the invitation of the United Steel
Workers of America (USWA) which had formerly had a contract with
Custom-Trim Ltd. of Canada..

     Workers later learned that in February 1997 that Breed
Technologies had bought Canadian Custom-Trim Ltd. for $70
million. Formal. In Mexico, however, the transition did not begin
until the summer of 1998. By November of that year all Custom-
Trim operations had ceased and operations were moved to a new
plant under the new name  Breed Mexicana.  At  Custom-Trim=92s
sister plant in Matamoros, Auto-Trim, the company maintained
previous contracts and seniority and the Auto-Trim name.  However
at Custom-Trim all workers were terminated, given their severance
pay, and then re-contracted as employees of Breed Mexicana,
presumably to avoid the legal consequences of a Board of
Conciliation decision.

     At this point the Custom-Trim workers and their allies in
the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras are attempting to
get Breed to assume responsibility for the Board decision and
reinstate the workers.

[Information thanks to: Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras
530 Bandera Road, San Antonio, Texas 78228. Phone: 210-732-8957
FAX: 210-732-8324 E-Mail: cjm@xxxxxxx]

                              ###

               RANK AND FILE MOVEMENT TAKES POWER
               IN NUEVO LAREDO CITY WORKERS UNION

     In what could prove to be an important breakthrough for
independent and democratic unionism on the U.S.-Mexico border, a
rank and file workers=92 movement has taken power in the City
Workers Union in Nuevo Laredo. The workers victory came after a
more than one-year legal battle, but only because a public
employees=92 general strike paralyzed the city and forced the
municipal president to recognize the new union leaders.

     Until recently Nuevo Laredo represented a clear
demonstration of the noxious effects of authoritarian government,
political corruption, and lack of workers=92 rights on the people
of Mexico. For years Nuevo Laredo had been controlled by the
local political boss or  cacique,  Jose Maria Morelos Dominguez.
Morelos was the dominant figures in the Confederation of Mexican
Workers (CTM) and the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

     Not only did Morelos head up the CTM, and the Maquiladora
Workers Union, and several other unions, but also, as a  regidor =

or city councilman, he also came to control the City Workers
Union and city jobs. Morelos dispensed many of the city=92s 2,000
jobs to his family, friends and followers, and sold jobs to yet
others. Most of those who received these patronage jobs were what
is known in Mexico as  aviadores,  (aviators) or what we usually
refer to as  ghost employees.  That is, they did not actually
perform any work for the city, but merely collected their pay
checks.

     Gradually the majority of Nuevo Laredo=92s city workers street
and sanitation workers, firemen, policemen, and the city
administrative workers such as secretaries and clerks came to
resent Morelos=92s corrupt system and finally got fed up. The
workers established a group within the City Workers Union and
decided to run a democratic workers=92 slate in the next election. =


     When the union election was held in November 1997, the
workers won the election -but the local authorities refused to
recognize their victory. After several other futile attempts to
gain recognition from the city, the workers eventually appealed
to the Superior Court in the state capital of Ciudad Victoria,
which confirmed their union election victory on October 25, 1998.

     Still the local authorities in Nuevo Laredo would not
recognize the union, despite the court order, so the workers
decided that they would greet the new municipal president,
Horacio Garza, with a general strike by all city workers. The
stike on January 4, 1999 paralyzed city government and services,
and Garza agreed to meet with the workers. The city subsequently
recognized the union and to reorganized the workforce, including
looking into the cases of workers who had been fired, downgraded
or transferred. So far some 400  aviadores  have been fired from
their jobs, and those jobs are being filled by workers who will
become union members.

     Throughout their fight the Nuevo Laredo City Workers Union
had the support of the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras,
a tri-national coalition of =


     At present the new City Workers Union in Nuevo Laredo is
negotiating a wage increase in the new contract.

     The victory of the City Workers Union in Nuevo Laredo could
be an important first step in establishing democratic and
independent labor unions on the U.S.-Mexico border, a step which
would have important implications for the maquiladora workers.

[Information thanks to: Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras
530 Bandera Road, San Antonio, Texas 78228. Phone: 210-732-8957
FAX: 210-732-8324 E-Mail: cjm@xxxxxxx]

                              ###
               =

          MEXICO=92S NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS
       FIRES 270 WORKERS FOR DEMANDING PERMANENT JOBS
               =

                         by Elyce Hues

     Two-hundred seventy workers employed by INEGI, the National
Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing, were
fired on January 4 by the director of the Institute, Dr. Carlos
M. Jarque Uribe, for refusing to withdraw their court petitions
for lawful recognition of their work status as permanent rather
than temporary workers. =


     The National Coalition of INEGI Workers, now engaged in a
sit-in at INEGI offices, is demanding the resignation of Director
Dr. Carlos M. Jarque Uribe; the reinstatement of all fired
workers; respect for Mexico=92s labor laws; and job stability as a
result of deserved permanent worker status.

     INEGI has been a branch of the Treasury Secretary of the
Mexican Government since 1982, with 20,000 employees. Five-
thousand of these are classified as permanent workers,
approximately one-third of whom belong to Union of Workers of
INEGI, an affiliate of FSTSE, the umbrella federation of public
sector unions in Mexico. The 15,000 remaining workers are
classified as temporary, and work for PROCEDE, INEGI's program
designed to take statistics on the country=92s ejidos, land
distributed by the Mexican government among small farming
communities and indigenous communities.  =


               Create Rank and File Group

     In 1997, some of these temporary workers began working with
an attorney to claim status as permanent employees and to receive
their unpaid benefits. In October of 1998 this group formalized
into the National Coalition of INEGI Workers, "Ing. Herberto
Castillo,  named after the late leader of the Party of the
Democratic Revolution (PRD). All 270 of the fired workers are
members of this coalition.  =


     According to Mexican federal labor law, temporary workers
for up to six months may be used to replace workers on leave. =

INEGI has taken advantage of this law in the case of these
workers by contracting them for 3 to 6 months at a time without
recognizing their former work, although many of these workers
have been with INEGI for up to 20 years. By doing so, INEGI
can avoid the full mandatory payment to the national institute of
social security (ISSSTE), resulting that the workers receive
health care, but have no retirement or housing funds. Also, among
many other comparative disadvantages, as temporary workers they
have no job stability, they are paid lower wages, are required to
work longer than the legal 7 and 1/2 hours, are not allowed legal
holidays, and sometimes must remain in the ejidos from 11-40 days
at a time, with punishment for leaving earlier than their
assigned time.  =


     Last year, coalition members took their case to the Federal
Council of Reconciliation and Arbitration, and in a late December
meeting with Dr. Jarque, they were told to withdraw their
petitions or be fired. They were fired. In response, all 270 of
these workers, who come from various parts of the country, have
gathered in the Federal District to protest outside the Mexico
City offices of INEGI. They have been assembled in a sit-in since
January 11, and they plan to stay until the issue is
satisfactorily resolved. The coalition is affiliated with the
National Union of Workers (UNT) and receives support from the
Authentic Labor Front (FAT) and Section 18 of the National Union
of Education Workers (SNTE).

     The Coalition represents more than the fired workers. On
October 2, 1998 the coalition formalized its structure during a
national meeting in which a constitution was adopted and
leadership was elected. The Coalition at the time included
members from 8 of Mexico's states and 25 people. Today the
Coalition represents 1380 INEGI workers in 10 states.

     The Coalition is engaged in a sit in (plant=F3n) for the fired
workers in front of the INEGI offices on Avenida Patriotismo in
Mexico City. The workers have been there since January 11th, and
plan to stay until the matter is satisfactorily resolved. In
addition there are 40-50 workers staying at the FAT office.
  =

     The coalition is demanding the resignation of the Director
of INEGI, Dr. Carlos M. Jarque Uribe, the reinstatement of all
fired workers, the job stability of permanent worker status, and
that the Institute respect federal labor laws.  =


     [The coalition also requests support from the international
community in the form of letters to Dr. Jarque and others: =

 =

Dr. Carlos M. Jarque Uribe
President of the National Institution of Geography, Statistic and
Data Processing(INEGI)
Av. Patriotismo No. 711-A / Del. Benito Juarez
Mexico, D.F / Mexico
Fax: 52 (5) 278-1000

cc: =


Ronald Jansen, Officer in Charge
U.N. Statistics Division
Palacio de las Naciones 1211
Geneva, 10 / Switzerland
fax: 41(22)9170123

Jose Antonio Gonzalez Fernandez, Secretar=EDa del Trabajo y
Previsi=F3n Social
Perif=E9rico Sur No. 4271, Ed. A, piso 4
Col. Fuentes del Pedregal, C.P. 14149
Mexico, D.F. / Mexico
Fax : 52 (5) 645-5594]
                              ###

                SOUTHEAST RAILWAY FORCES 1,200 =

               RAILROAD WORKERS INTO RETIREMENT

     The privatization of Mexico=92s railroad lines ended in
December much as it had begun a few years ago: with the forced
retirement of railroad workers, the rehiring of workers under new
flexible labor union contracts, and promises from the railroad
workers union that everything will work out for the best. In
short, the process ended with a resounding victory for private
capital won largely through the efforts of the state-controlled
Mexican Railroad Workers Union (STFRM) and at the expense of the
railroad workers.
     =

     The Southeast Railroad or FERROSUR, formerly part of the
Mexican National Railways (FERRONALES) which was sold earlier
this year to the Mexican corporation TRIBASA (Triturados
Basaticos y Derivados, SA), forced the early retirement of 1,200
railroad workers. Another 50 workers who were employed in repair
shops now deemed to be obsolete have also lost their jobs. But
5,500 workers have been re-contracted under a new labor union
agreement, according to Emilio Morales Gomez, the head of Local
28 of the STFRM. He said that the FERROSUR worker would receive a
10 percent wage increase raising their minimum wages to 130 pesos
(about U.S.$13) per day, plus benefits. Retirees, he said, have
nothing to fear.

     Meanwhile Socorro Aubry, a representative of the Party of
the Democratic Revolution in the Mexican Congress, says that her
party will demand an investigation into the disappearance of a
12.5 billion peso (U.S.$1.25 billion) retirement fund. Aubry
suggests that Victor Flores Morales, head of the Mexican Railroad
Workers Union and other member of the executive committee
embezzled the funds.

END MEXICAN LABOR NEWS AND ANALYSIS, VOL. 4, NO. 1, JAN., 1999



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