Nov 1 Solidarity Action:Tijuana Hyundai Workers Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source:Alan Benjamin 25 Oct 1997 19:09:33 GMT Western Hemisphere Workers' Conference Against NAFTA & Privatizations Ramada Plaza Hotel, Nov. 14-16 San Francisco, California c/o San Francisco Labor Council, 1188 Franklin St. # 203, San Francisco, CA 94109. Tel. (415) 681-5868. Fax. (415) 440-9297 APPEAL TO ALL SUPPORTERS OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE CONFERENCE: Join the National Action Day of Action on November 1 in Defense of Han Young/Hyundai Workers Dear Friends, The Campaign for Labor Rights in Washington and the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers (based in San Diego) have issued a call for mass leafleting at Hyundai car dealerships across the country on Saturday, November 1, to protest the illegal firing of pro-union workers at the Han Young/Hyundai plant in Tijuana and to demand the official recognition of the independent union that recently won the election in that plant. Both these organizations will be participating in the November 14-16 conference. A representative of the new STIMACHS independent union will be a featured speaker at the Friday night opening banquet dinner/rally. So far, the Mexican elections board has not issued a finding on the election, in which the clear majority of workers (even taking into account those who voted fraudulently and illegally) opted for the STIMAHCS union, a branch of the independent FAT union. To prevent the formation of an independent union in the plant, Hyundai management has fired more than a dozen pro-union workers and has threatened to bring in scabs from as far away as the Mexican state of Veracruz. [For more information, see article below.] We urge all endorsers and supporters of the Western Hemisphere Conference to contact the Campaign for Labor Rights (541-344-5410) to get more information about the local coalitions that are building this National Day of Action. You can also obtain a Hyundai Action Packet by calling their office or contacting them at: CLR@igc.apc.org. Thanks. Ed Rosario, Conference Coordinator Important Victory for Independent Union in Tijuana An important blow for workers' rights has been struck in Mexico. Workers at the Han Young de Mexico SA maquiladora in Tijuana, which welds automotive chassis for Korean firm Hyundai Motors, voted on Oct. 6 for an independent union. The margin was overwhelming. Workers at Han Young had been "represented" by a company union - the CROC - tied to Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). They never had an opportunity to elect CROC leadership, and have never been consulted on issues at the plant. As in other maquiladoras (assembly for export plants), the CROC operates under a sweetheart deal with management - in exchange for maintaining "labor peace." The new union, STIMAHCS (Union of Metal, Steel, and Iron Workers), will be the first independent union in the vast maquiladoras. It is a division of the FAT (Authentic Labor Front), an independent labor federation representing 50,000 Mexican workers. The victory poses a real challenge to the sweatshop practices that line Mexico's border with the United States. But as we go to press, the workers are still awaiting certification of their vote by government labor officials. "We're afraid they're stalling, looking for a mechanism, or some violation, to block our victory," the STIMHAHCS lawyer, Enrique Hernandez, told the Wall Street Journal (Oct. 10). State officials deny these charges, claiming complete impartiality. Meanwhile, reported the Journal, the bosses seem to recognize what's happened. Asked by the Journal whether he knew the results, plant manager Sam Lee said: "We lost." The elections board has up to 30 days in which to certify the results. Rampant vote fraud The union victory was no easy battle. In a Oct. 10 dispatch, the Campaign for Labor Rights described the election as "a dramatic lesson in blatant government corruption, with fraudulent workers literally bused in, some having to be coached in the name of their supposed employer." The story of the how election day unfolded is instructive. "When the polls opened on Monday, all the workers were lined up and ready to vote. Even before the casting of ballots, there was no doubting the workers ' preference, since all 55 wore STIMAHCS t-shirts. "Staff of the Conciliation and Arbitration Board (the Mexican labor board) questioned voters one by one, to determine their right to vote. The vote: STIMAHCS 55, CROC 1. The labor board declared the polls closed. According to law, when there is a break in voters, voting must end. "After closure of the polls, a bus rolled up with 32 more 'workers.' These included a variety of people legally ineligible to vote: management, employees hired after the date that workers called for a union certification election, and some who had no employment history at the plant. "The pro-union workers blocked the fraudulent voters from entering the polls. Even though the polls had officially been declared closed, labor board officials insisted that the workers allow the latecomers to vote. If not, they warned, they would nullify the election. "The workers relented. Labor board officials rushed the fraudulent voters through the validation process in two's and three's. In line, some latecomers were overheard asking, 'Who did they tell us to vote for?' Some could not even identify the company which supposedly was their employer. "When the polls again were closed, the vote was STIMAHCS 55, CROC 33 still a decisive victory for the independent union." The courage of those who voted for the independent union should be noted. There was no secret ballot; they had to declare openly, when asked by election officials in front of observers, to declare their choice. Reprisals In the election's aftermath, and with certification still not granted, the company has stepped up its attacks on the workers. Before the election, seven pro-union workers were fired, and some new workers were brought in from Veracruz and housed in company-paid lodgings. After the election, another two of the most vocal pro-union workers were fired. And according to the Campaign for Labor Rights (Oct. 14), "Management told the two workers who were fired that the company plans to bring in 50 more workers from Veracruz, to replace the entire current pro-union workforce." These reprisals are not limited to the workers. The election was closely monitored by international observers organized by the San Diego-based Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers. The Campaign for Labor Rights reports that "at a press conference in Tijuana on October 8, officials from Gobernaci n (the counterpart of the U.S. Justice Department) privately told reporters that they were looking for staff of the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers, to serve papers barring them from Mexico." Backdrop of "fast track" The Han Young election took place against the backdrop of Pres. Clinton's request for "fast-track" authority in trade negotiations. Some suggest the Clinton administration will pressure Mexican officials to certify the election quickly, so as draw attention away from the lack of democratic and trade union rights that have, in essence, been provided cover under NAFTA. The Wall Street Journal made note of this backdrop in its Oct. 10 article, which began: "This week's union vote in Tijuana may fuel the debate over future free-trade accords between the U.S. and Latin America." The Journal describes fast track this way: it would give Clinton "the ability to negotiate trade accords with limited side agreements governing labor and environmental issues, or none at all. A hitch in the Mexican union vote would give ammunition to opponents of fast-track who say that not only are side agreements with future trade partners necessary, but they need to be even tougher than in the Mexican case." But the New York Times, in taking up the same question (Oct. 13), illustrates the worthlessness of these side agreements. "American trade unionists and other sympathizers, many of whom traveled to Tijuana to monitor the balloting, as well as several members of the U.S. Congress, are pointing to the case as an instance of labor abuses they say are routine despite Mexico's pledges under a side accor d of the North American Free Trade Agreement to respect the right of workers to form independent unions." Whatever the effect of the Han Young union election on the fast-track debate, one thing is clear. The results promise to resound throughout the maquiladora sector. All Mexican workers have won a big victory. HILARY SCHARF ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytlab-10.26.97-01:33:36-32523