Mexican Labor News & Analysis

Fox Forced to Back Down; López Obrador Will Run in 2006

President Vicente Fox was forced in late April to give up his attempt to keep Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel López Obrador, the leading contender in the opinion polls, from running for president in 2006. Fox and his allies in both his own National Action Party (PAN) and in the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) had attempted to keep López Obrador from running by charging him with a crime and stripping him of his immunity as an elected official. But after massive demonstrations of over one million people in Mexico City on April 24, combined with strong criticism in the foreign press and from other governments, and accompanied by worrisome fluctuations in the stock market, Fox backed down.

On April 26 Fox sacrificed his Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha, forcing him to resign in order to clear the way for a political resolution of the crisis. Then, on May 4, Federal prosecutors dropped all charges against the Mexico City mayor. A few days later, on May 9, López Obrador announced that he would resign as mayor on July 31 to run for president in the July 2006 elections. Mexican law requires candidates to resign any governmental positions they hold in order to run for office. He will be a candidate of the left-of-center Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) which he joined several years ago after leaving the PRI.

López Obrador’s success in this struggle with Fox, the PAN and the PRI represents a victory as much for democracy as for his own candidacy. Many Mexicans, whatever they think of López Obrador deplored Fox’s attempt to keep the leading candidate of the opposition from running.

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Labor Law Reform on Back Burner

The administration of President Vicente Fox and its allies in his own National Action Party (PAN) and in the former ruling party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), have apparently failed to garner enough support to push through labor law reform by calling a special legislative session.

While labor law reform, together with privatization of the energy industry, remains a high priority for the Fox administration, and particularly for Secretary of Labor Carlos Abascal Carranza, it has met stiff opposition from Mexico’s independent labor unions, the National Union of Workers (UNT) and the Mexican Union Front (FSM), as well as broader coalitions of workers, peasants, and the poor. Mexico’s independent unions also found support from Canadian, Quebecois and U.S. labor unions and human rights organizations.

More recently, unions which traditionally have supported the government added their critiques. Apparently the strong national and international opposition have combined to stall labor law reform, making it unlikely that the Mexican Congress will again consider the matter prior to the 2006 elections.

Nevertheless, Minister of Labor Carlos Abascal continues his crusade, distributing a document this week entitled “ Modernization of the Federal Labor Law,” which repeats the arguments that labor law reform will generate employment, increase productivity and result in a better competitive position for Mexico.

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SITESABES/FAT Workers Win Secret Ballot Election

On May 3, 2005 the adult education workers who have been struggling to gain recognition for their independent union, SITESABES, an affiliate of the FAT, won an unprecedented victory when Libia Gómez Padilla, president of the Leon labor board ordered a secret ballot election.

In Mexico, such elections have historically been conducted by voice vote and workers are forced to express their desires in front of the labor authorities, representatives of management and the competing unions. They always face psychological pressure and often the threat or reality of physical violence from thugs.

For many years the FAT, progressive lawyers and other independent unions have been fighting for secret ballot elections. However, this is the first case we are aware of in which such a requirement was included in a decision handed down by a labor board in the face of opposition.

The election will take place on May 31st in four locations in the State of Guanajuato.

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Sometimes Solidarity Surprises You

By Maureen Casey

Sometimes solidarity surprises you.

Last August, when Robin Alexander called me to talk about the struggle of an independent union of teachers in Guanajuato, I thought we were talking about Guadalajara. On Tuesday, May 31, that union will be part of an historic election held throughout Guanajuato to determine whether the independent union which is affiliated with the FAT -- SITESABES -- or the CTM-affiliated union will truly represent the teachers. I’ll be there as an observer. One of my solidarity surprises is that I know now where Guanajuato is and I am eager to return to stand with women and men who have become friends.

In August of 2004, the U.E. and the FAT sponsored a speaking tour of one of the independent union’s organizers on the East Coast. Robin called me to ask if I could arrange an event at the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) offices outside of Albany. NYSUT represents more than 500,000 educators and other school personnel around New York. My organization, the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition a non-profit group which focuses on issues of economic justice, is housed in the Teachers’ Union building. I was delighted to offer this opportunity to connect teachers in New York with teachers in Mexico.

And so it began. Over lunch after Raul Cisneros’ presentation, NYSUT leaders wondered aloud if it might be possible to build a solidarity relationship with the teachers of Raul’s independent union, SITESABES. That conversation led to a small delegation of teachers from New York visiting Guanajuato in January 2005 to meet the organizers of SITESABES, visit their communities and explore possible ways of cooperation between the two unions. In April, six SITESABES teacher organizers traveled to New York to join NYSUT at its annual convention (with 3,000 participants) and to bring the story of their struggle to leaders of NYSUT locals.

Immediately teachers in New York recognized a bond with the teachers from Mexico and committed themselves and their locals to support the struggle for a real, democratic union in Guanajuato. To date, more than $ 10,000 has been raised to support the struggle and hundreds of faxes and emails have been sent to the Governor and Labor Board of Guanajuato demanding a election with a secret ballot for union representation. And teachers across New York are calling teachers in Mexico “sister/brother” in solidarity.

As those of you who read MLNA regularly know, the struggle of SITESABES to gain recognition as the union representing this group of teachers is nothing new in the Mexican labor story. The teachers in question work for a special state-of-Guanajuato program implemented by then-Governor Vicente Fox to slow the migration of people from the state to the North. (Guanajuato is the state in Mexico with the second-highest number of emigrants to the United States). The program, called SABES, is designed to provide high school and university education in rural areas (often through distance learning) for people who are otherwise unable to continue education after the mandatory sixth grade. SABES also provides technical education and job training.

Begun in 1997, SABES funding covers only the salaries of the teachers of the program. There is no money for buildings, for utilities, for maintenance, etc. So the first thing the teachers in the new program had to do was work with the rural communities to build schools, to find students, to pay for ongoing operations of the schools. Already modest to start, salaries and benefits started shrinking after the turn of the century. By 2002, teachers were frustrated that promises originally made by the state in terms of salary and benefits were no longer being kept.

They organized a union to negotiate a contract and called their new union SITESABES. More than 2/3 of the teachers of SABES (about one thousand in 2002) signed “union cards” declaring their preference for this union to negotiate on their behalf. When SITESABES leaders approached the state government to begin contract talks, they were informed that SABES already had a union in place which represented the teachers and that the contract had already been signed. None of the teachers had ever heard of or known anyone in this union.

SITESABES filed for recognition as a rival union and in January 2003 was granted a registro recognizing their right to legally represent workers.

You know that I am condensing shamelessly when I summarize the rest of the story:

Soon, after SITESABES was recognized as a legitimate union, leaders and organizers began to lose their jobs with no cause except their union affiliation;
Hundreds of new teachers were hired for the SABES program, usually with no knowledge of or interest in unions;
Important concessions in benefits were “granted” by the state (actually only what the law mandated and SITESABES had demanded) in order to undermine the independent union;
Intimidation was (and is) rampant against those who express support for SITESABES, including community members;
Teachers are frequently told that if they support the independent union they will lose their jobs; and
The long and frustrating legal process began that demanded that the Conciliation and Arbitration Board be accountable for following through on the union’s recognition and set an election timetable.

In the more than two years since the recognition of SITESABES, organizers have been valiant in their efforts to continue building the union, demanding their rights, supporting and being supported by their communities. This is an appallingly long time to be without formal work and without stable employment (many of the fired union leaders continue work with and for SITESABES). One can only imagine the stress on the teachers and their families.

In these last nine months SITESABES members have found themselves with a half million new allies thousands of miles away. Building cross-Border solidarity isn’t easy; thanks to U.E. and the FAT, some pitfalls have been avoided. Other challenges have been discovered. Together we’re trying to figure out how to really live what we believe about solidarity.

Members of NYSUT and its parent union, the American Federation of Teachers, will be in Guanajuato for the union election. They will be there as international observers but more importantly they will be there as sisters and brothers deepening our understanding of solidarity and the way we can live it across language and culture and borders.

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Open Letter: Museum Workers Demand Reinstatement

We are six Mexican workers employed by an Art Museum in Juarez, Mexico (Museo de Arte del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes de Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua). We have been unfairly fired after having dedicated ourselves to the service of art and culture for nearly 25 years.

For some of us, this is the first time in many years that we have been unemployed and we are very near retirement age.

We were fired because we made a demand for 14 weeks of pay that we were owed and the labor authorities found in our favor.

At the end of the hearing in the Labor Board, the director of the Art Museum, Rosa Elva Vázquez Ruíz, asked us to come to the Museum facilities to chat. However, when we got there, she told us that if we wanted to keep our jobs, we had to sign a contract according to which we would be paid as consultants, thus losing the few benefits to which we could still count on.

Upon refusing to accept such conditions, we were notified verbally by the Museum director and by its supposed legal representative, Joel Eugenio Espinoza Girón, that consequently we were “automatically” fired.

Faced with the failure of the negotiation, the director and the legal representative demanded that we leave by the Museum’s back door.

Faced with what we consider an injustice and a violation of our rights and our dignity as workers, we continue going to the Museum from which we have been unfairly fired. We do so in order to demonstrate and to demand our rehiring on the basis of the terms of employment that we originally enjoyed.

Such a demonstration of a demand in the exterior part of the main entrance of what was formerly our place of work is at the same time a call to all artists, intellectuals, the public that appreciates art and culture, as well as to the organizations of civil society in general, asking that they solidarize themselves with our struggle and that they give a few minutes of their time to send cards to the governmental authorities that can resolve the situation in support of our demands.

We have made a model card as an example for anyone who wishes to write one to be sent to the individuals and email addresses that we give at the end.

Sincerely,
Sr. Marco Antonio Márquez Palacios
Srita. Jackeline Juárez Galván
Ing. Juan Manuel Ortega Posada
Mtro. Mario Héctor Parra Pérez
Sr. Antonio Mendoza Muñoz
Sr. Francisco Juárez Miranda
[Trans. by Dan La Botz]

Sample Letter of Support for the Workers Fired from the Art Museum

dominiointernet@correo.conaculta.gob.mx,
infoinba@inba.gob.mx,
dgsmpc2@correo.conaculta.gob.mx,
fonca@correo.conaculta.gob.mx

cc: Cetlac@infosel.net.mx



Sari Bermudez Presidenta de CONACULTA
Saul Juarez Director General del INBA
Xavier Cortes Rocha Director General de Sitios y Monumentos del Patrimonio Cultural
Mario Espinosa Ricalde Secretario Ejecutivo del Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes


Dear Ms. Bermudez and Mssrs. Juarez, Cortes and Espinosa,

We are writing this letter to ask you to deal fairly with the workers of the Museo de Arte del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes de Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, considering their long employment in the service of art and culture.

We believe that you are treating these workers--Marco Antonio Márquez Palacios (Intendente), Jackeline Juárez Galván (Recepcionista), Juan Manuel Ortega Posada (Auxiliar Técnico), Mario Héctor Parra Pérez (Mtro. de pintura), Antonio Mendoza Muñoz (Oficial de intendencia) y Francisco Juárez Miranda (Jefe de intendencia)—unjustly given that some of them have give as much as 24 years in the service of INBA, and some are older adults on the verge of retirement. You should cease to act in such an arrogant fashion, ignoring their legal rights and acting with impunity. We demand their rehiring to their jobs under the contractual terms they originally had.

Because labor rights are human rights, and because we are certain that art and culture can only be displayed and promoted by just and sensible human beings, we are sure that our request will be acted upon promptly and with fairness.

Sincerely,

[Your name, organization, and contact information.]

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Lajat Workers Reinstated with Full Back Pay

From the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras (CJMJ)

[May 24, 2005] In an unprecedented victory five fired workers from the Lajat jeans factory in Gomez Palacio, Durango were reinstated on Monday with full back pay plus bonuses and other benefits they would have earned if they hadn’t been fired. Even more momentous was the signature of Lajat President Oscar Gonzales of a document, certified by the labor board, that Lajat would not harass the workers when they return to work today and will respect their right to organize. When pushed, Gonzales also threw in 30% of the overtime he owes them for work done before he fired them.

The victory came after tense negotiations at the Gomez Palacio Labor Board (Conciliation & Arbitration Commission) and extensive pressure by Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras CJM, Campaign for Labor Rights and their member organizations in the U.S. and Canada on the brands which sell jeans made at Lajat: Levi Strauss & Co. and Mudd Jeans. The role played by Levis was extraordinary. They investigated the workers’ charges of violations of Levis Sourcing Guidelines and the appallingly bad working conditions at the plant. They negotiated with the workers, with CJM and with Lajat. In the end, after telling Lajat numerous times to reinstate the workers, Levis brought Mudd Jeans to the table. Mudd had been far less responsive, and, as it turned out, didn’t even have a code of conduct, but was ultimately persuaded by Levis to join in the pressure on Lajat.

Still, at the Labor Board meeting, Lajat tried to trick the workers into dropping the labor board charges they’d filed in exchange for the backpay but without getting a signed agreement that they would return to work with the same pay and seniority and a promise that the company would not retaliate against them. The workers refused and walked out of the negotiations. It was the Labor Board Secretary who ran after them to come back and who then got Lajat to sign the agreement stipulating those conditions for reinstatement.

The five workers received a total of 50,000 pesos ($4,563) in cash and a no-retaliation agreement in writing with the promise that the company will not interfere with their right to organize!

Martha Ojeda, Executive Director of The Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras said, “This is a great victory. As far as we know, this is the first time that workers have forced a maquiladora to reinstate them with full back pay and promises to respect their rights. It’s a remarkable breakthrough and a great example of how CJM can coordinate action by our member organizations and allies in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada can coordinate action to support these brave workers.”

Next steps

Originally, eight members of the workers committee to organize an independent union were fired. Three were brought back to work (without the backpay) a couple of weeks ago and then let go again. They too have been called back, but problems remain about their loss of pay. Also, the company owes all workers for unpaid overtime and there are many health and safety issues to resolve. This is why an independent union is so desperately needed at Lajat.

The workers have formed a union and have filed twice for recognition (registro) of it through the Labor Board. The first petition was rejected because the names on it were the workers who Lajat fired for filing. They filed another petition with names of other workers. Now we need to pressure the Board to grant the registro. (In Mexico independent unions must go through a two step process: first getting official recognition from the government, then winning an election against other unions who want to represent the workers.)

We anticipate the need for further pressure once the registro is granted. The Board will need to schedule an election (recuento) in which the workers will vote for either the new independent union or the current CTM “company” union. Judging from past experiences, like at Duro Bag in Rio Bravo, it will also be a struggle to get an honest, secret ballot election free of intimidation.

Our member organization in Gomez Palacio/Torreon, The Coalition for Justice of the La Laguna Region has organized strong local support. They will keep us apprised of developments. Levis has also said it will continue to monitor the situation.

Thanks to all our members and supporters who have helped with letters and donations for the Lajat workers and the campaign. We couldn’t have done it without you! Some of these organizations will be sending letters to Levis thanking them for their good work.

Action

At this point, we ask our supporters to email or fax the Labor Board to ask them to grant the registro for the union immediately. Please send the following letter in Spanish to them.

Francisco Covarrubias
Presidente Junta de Conciliación y Arbitraje de Gómez Palacio, Durango
Phone/Fax 0 11 52 [871] 7231612 (to fax you need to call and say “tono de fax por favor)
Email: franciscojaviercovarrubias@prodigy.net.mx

Estimado Señor Covarrubias,
Estamos muy complacidos del rol que ha jugado la Junta de Conciliación y Arbitraje de Gómez Palacio en la negociación de la reinstalación de los trabajadores despedidos de Lajat. Tenemos conocimiento que los trabajadores por segunda ocasión solicitaron el registro de su sindicato ante la autoridad laboral. La libertad sindical es un derecho universal reconocido en la ley laboral de México. Les escribimos porque los trabajadores de Lajat están en pleno derecho de ejercitarlo y exigimos que la Junta de Conciliación actúe conforme a Derecho y que les concedan el registro sindical lo mas pronto posible, para que los trabajadores puedan hacer efectivo el convenio laboral firmado por Lajat ante la Junta en un contrato colectivo.

Estaremos atentos de los acontecimientos para apoyar a los trabajadores en sus demandas.
Atentamente,
[your name]

[Translation: We are pleased with for the role played by the Gomez Palacio Conciliation and Arbitration Board in the negotiations for the reinstatement of the fired workers from Lajat. We understand that the workers have again filed with the CAB for the registro for their union. Freedom of association is a universal right recognized in the Mexican labor law. We are writing you because the Lajat workers are fully within their rights and we request that the CAB act in accordance with the law by granting their registro as soon as possible so that the workers can enforce the agreement which was signed by Lajat in front of the CAB as a collective contract. We will be watching developments so that we can support the workers as they pursue their rights.]

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FLOC Organizer Threatened with Deportation

The Mexican Government has ordered the Brendan Greene, director of the Monterrey, Mexico office of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), a U.S.-based labor union, to appear at a deportation hearing on Thursday, May 26, 2005.

Greene reports that he has been detained seven times by local, state and federal Mexican police for simply conducting meetings in villages educating workers about their rights under the precedent-setting collective-bargaining agreement with the North Carolina Grower’s Association and the Mt.Olive Pickle Company. The agreement between FLOC, based in Toldedo Ohio, and the Association was signed last September and covers 8,000 H2A guestworkers from Mexico.

FLOC president, Baldemar Velasquez immediately protested the Mexican government’s action calling it a “misguided” because it denied Mexican workers information about their rights and “thereby accommodated wrongdoing by recruiters of H2A workers and perhaps corrupt local officials."

Greene has also been investigating grievances by workers who have been charged more than the required amounts for their visa interviews and their travel expenses by agents of the recruiters of the Growers Association. Velasquez said, “apparently, Brendan has touched a nerve in the corrupt element in this process and there is now an attempt to get him out of the country.”

“It is becoming evident that the Mexican government, from Fox on down, has profound ignorance of the realities of low wage jobs in the United States,” said Velasquez. “Not only does Fox voice insensitivity in his comments about the relationship between African-Americans and Mexican immigrants, this deportation action signals an attitude of not caring about the plight of his countrymen once they are in the United States with or without documents.”

A surprised Greene said, “I just received the deportation hearing notice yesterday (Tuesday May 24) and the hearing is tomorrow Thursday.” FLOC will immediately form a national effort to protest with Mexican consulates around the country and the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Action Requested

FLOC asks for support in stopping this deportation by pressuring Mexican officials. Supporters of FLOC are urged to contact the Mexican Ambassador in Washington, D.C., Mr. Carlos De Icasa and the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Luis Derbez. Contact information follows:

Mr. Carlos De Icasa
PH (202) 728-1690
Fax (202) 833-4320
Fax Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Derbez at (011-5255) 57824109
For more info call FLOC at (419) 243-3456.

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