From: xcruz@webtv.net (Robert Chavez) Date: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 00:37:59 -0700 To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu Subject: Fwd: MEXICAN LABOR NEWS & ANALYSIS, VOL. III, NO. 3 (fwd) --WebTV-Mail-1889888441-13020 --WebTV-Mail-1889888441-13020 Date: Mon, 2 Feb 1998 23:10:20 -0800 (PST) Reply-To: 2000seradc@galaxy.UCR.EDU Originator: 2000seradc@listserv Sender: 2000seradc@galaxy.UCR.EDU From: Roberto Calderon To: xcruz@webtv.net Subject: MEXICAN LABOR NEWS & ANALYSIS, VOL. III, NO. 3 (fwd) X-Comment: Discussion/Advocacy of Human, Labor & Civil Rights Date: Mon, 2 Feb 1998 23:19:16 -0500 From: Dan La Botz <103144.2651@compuserve.com> To: "Roberto R. Calderon" Subject: Mex Labor News, Feb 2 MEXICAN LABOR NEWS AND ANALYSIS February 2, 1998 Vol. III, No. 3 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 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@compuserve.com 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 *AFL-CIO's Sweeney Makes Historic Visit to Mexico *CTM Union Strikes 10 Maquiladoras; 13,000 Workers Involved *Han Young Workers Still Have No Contract, Actions on Feb 7 *Mexican Teachers Mobilize; Prepare for National Convention *Mayor Cardenas Survives First Encounter with PRI Unions *Victor Flores Expels Dissident Railroad Workers *Farm Laborers Riot in Sinaloa over Wage Chiseling *DINA Auto Workers to Strike February 6 for 35% Wage Hike *Federations Jockey Over May Day March *Correction *Sorry, no Social Statistics This Time. ----------------------------------------------------------------- AFL-CIO'S SWEENEY MAKES HISTORIC VISIT TO MEXICO, REACHES OUT TO INDEPENDENT FEDERATIONS, UNT AND FAT by Don Sherman [Mexico City] John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO led a labor delegation to Mexico last month for two days of talks with Mexican labor officials. This trip represented an historic development and a turning point in U.S.-Mexican labor relations. In the past, the AFL-CIO maintained ties almost exclusively with the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM) affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). But on this trip Sweeney also met with independent federations such as the new National Union of Workers (UNT) and the Authentic Labor Front (FAT). Accompanying Sweeney were George Becker, president of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), Jay Mazur, president of United Needle Textile Employees Union (UNITE), and Stanley Gacek, Assistant Director of International Affairs Department of the AFL-CIO. The last such visit to Mexico by an AFL president was made over 75 years ago in 1924 by the organization's founder Samuel Gompers. John L. Lewis, head of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) visited Mexico in 1938. Sweeney Promises to Work With All The first stop for the U.S. labor delegation was at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City. In a speech to an audience of 200 Mexican labor and university activists, mostly from the union at the university (STUNAM), Sweeney stated that he had come to Mexico to "work with the leaders of Mexican unions and other democratic forces in the country." "We want to work with our brothers and sisters in all parts of the Mexican labor movement and with freedom lovers throughout Mexican society," said Sweeney. He emphasized that he wanted to "find practical ways to work together by seeking and developing coordinated cross-border organizing and bargaining strategies." Sweeney also talked extensively of the need for unions to confront the growing problems brought by the globalization of capital. Speaking in a soft voice he sharply criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) for creating hardships for Mexican workers and taking jobs from U.S. workers. In their first meetings in Mexico, the U.S. labor delegation was certainly not going to find allies. The group met with President Zedillo, and other officials in the Mexican government. That meeting had been arranged by Tom McLarty, special Latin American advisor to U.S. President Bill Clinton. Later at a press briefing, Sweeney commented that the meeting with Zedillo had been positive, though he gave no specifics. Mexican Labor Secretary, Javier Bonilla Garcia, however, apparently did not share Sweeney's positive outlook. Soon after this meeting, Bonilla bluntly warned several Mexican union leaders not to make any agreements with the AFL-CIO that would "affect Mexican sovereignty." The U. S. labor delegation also met with Leonardo Rodriguez Alcaine, general secretary of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM). A week after that meeting, Rodriguez Alcaine warned Mexican unions about working too closely with the U.S. labor movement and he declared that "Mexicans should and were able to resolve their own problems." These reactions from the government and from the leader of the CTM should not have surprised Sweeney and the others in the delegation. Just a few years ago, attempts were made by AFL-CIO officials to develop a joint Mexican-U.S. labor strategy on NAFTA. At that time the CTM refused to even consider taking any position on the treaty that was divergent from that of the Mexican government. Today there is a new opening in the Mexican labor movement. With the formation of the National Union of Workers (UNT) last year, and the growing strength of independent federations like the Authentic Labor Front (FAT), the U.S. labor delegation was able to meet with Mexican union leaders who shared some of the same goals, such as opposing NAFTA and organizing maquiladora workers. The U.S. union delegation talked with the leaders of the UNT, including Francisco Hernandez Juarez, leader of the Mexican Telephone Workers Union (STRM); Augustin Rodriquez Fuentes, head of STUNAM; and Alejandra Barrales Magadeleno, leader of the Federation of Unions of Goods and Services (FESEBES). The result of the discussions between the AFL-CIO and UNT leaders was a general understanding that the two federations should cooperate to improve conditions for both Mexican and U.S. workers. The discussion revolved around the possibilities of working together in the future to revise NAFTA by including a social contract and a corporate code of conduct. There were also suggestions about the need to organize migrant workers and to develop strategies on cross-border organizing. Although there were no agreements signed at this meeting between the UNT and the AFL-CIO, there was a general understanding that they would meet again soon to explore further the questions of organizing and improving the NAFTA labor standards. The U.S. labor leaders also visited Bertha Lujan and Alfredo Dominguez, two of the leaders of the Authentic Labor Front (FAT). Lujan reported that they discussed working together to improve the conditions for both U.S. and Mexican workers. Lujan pointed out that her union and other Mexican unions are already participating in joint organizing projects such as organizing Mexican workers in Washington State packing plants and California janitors. ### CTM UNION STRIKES TEN MAQUILADORAS 13,000 WORKERS PARALYZE PRODUCTION by Dan La Botz Thousands of workers in Matamoros, Tamaulipas stopped work in mid-January paralyzing production in electronic and autoparts assembly plants known as maquiladoras. Over 13,000 workers, two- thirds of them women, participated in the strike at 10 plants, most of them owned by multinational corporations. In other plants workers engaged in escalating work stoppages of up to two hours at a time. The strikes and work stoppages, called by the Union of Laborers and Industrial Workers (Sindicato de Jornaleros y Obreros Industriales - SJOI) lasted from January 14 to 16. SJOI is an affiliate of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM). This short strike over the issue of higher wages is the first major strike in the maquiladoras in several years, and may be another sign that Mexico's old industrial relations regime is changing dramatically and rapidly. The union lifted the strike in part because of the intervention of Leonardo Rodriguez Alcaine, head of the Confederation of Mexican Workers, who called for a return to negotiations. Some reports indicate that the union has extended negotiations until February 16. However, Marco A. Valenzuela of the National Council of the Maquiladora Export Industry (CNIME) reported on January 21 that the strike had been settled by granting wage increase of 25 to 29 percent, raising workers' wages from 70 to 95 pesos per day. (Eight Mexican pesos=about one U.S. dollar.) Other sources say the settlement was twenty percent, or six percent above the government's minimum wage increase. An Escalating Strike The SJOI called the strike on January 14 against five maquiladoras: Lucen Technologies, Gobar, Fabricacion Technologica de Mexico, Sunbeam and the General Motors subsidiary Componentes Mecanicos. Some 6,500 employees stopped work bringing production to a halt. The next day the union struck another five plants, all affiliates of General Motors corporation's Delphi division, bringing the total number of workers on strike to 13,000, or almost one third of the 45,000 maquiladora workers who labor in 100 plants in Matamoros. The strike was supported by work stoppages in other plants. Agapito Gonzalez Cavazos, the head of the SJOI, threatened to extend the strike from the 10 to another 50 plants if the employers did not meet the union's demand for a 27 percent wage increase. The Mexican government and employers have been trying to keep wage increases in the area of 17 to 20 percent. The maquiladora employers offered 20 percent. The union is also demanding the "English week," that is a five-day work week with two days off. Many Mexican workers put in five and a half or six days a week. Gonzalez Cavazos declared that his union would carry out a general strike of the city's maquiladora plants if its demands were not. All Matamoros maquiladora workers belong to the SJOI. This is not the first time that Gonzalez Cavazos, or Agapito as he is usually called, has stood up against the corporations. After violent riots in Matamoros in the early 1980s, Agapito began to resist the corporations, and over the years his union became one of the few in Mexico with a 40-hour work week and significantly higher wages than other maquiladora unions. In 1992 Agapito's SJOI also pressed the employers on economic issues. During those contract negotiations, the Mexican government helped the employers by arresting Agapito for tax evasion and carrying him off to Mexico City in order to remove him from the scene in Matamoros. However after the 1992 experience, Fidel Velazquez, then head of the CTM, began to back Leocadio Mendoza, a rival leader of the SJOI. Mendoza came to control about half of the union contracts, giving employers a 48-hour work week and lower wages. We are informed by sources on the border that in this case Mendoza accepted management's offer, while Agapito's half of the union struck. Maquiladora Owners Condemn Strike Rene Gonzalez Rascon, the president of the National Chamber of the Transformation Industry (CANACINTRA) condemned the strike for having destroyed in just a few days the economic stability which was the result of years of work. Head of the Association of Maquiladoras of Matamoros, Rolando Gonzalez Barron, accused the union of "...returning to its pressure tactics of 40 years ago." Gonzalez Barron said that the SJOI had caused economic instability in Matamoros, leading 33 companies with 10,000 jobs to leave the area between 1991 and 1993. Many companies, he said, prefer to relocate to Reynosa. Among the many companies which he says left Matamoros because of its labor union, Gonzalez Barron mentioned Fisher Price, Industrias Thompson and Internacionales Johnson. Along the Mexican border where most of the maquiladoras are located, there are some areas which have no unions and others which have CTM unions or other "official" labor unions which maintain a "low profile," and do not really attempt to raise wages or benefits or to improve workers' working conditions. Management evidently prefers the union-free environment or do- nothing unions to the somewhat more aggressive unions of Matamoros. Gonzalez Barron said that most employers had offered wage increases of between 20 and 28 percent. The wage increase generally being offered was 20 percent for the 55 maquiladoras involved, he said. Rolando Jimenez, a third shift worker from one of the plants said that it's easy for some people to criticize the strike, but one can't live on a wage of 63 pesos per day. The cost of living in Mexico tends to be higher along the U.S.-Mexican border. Pressure on the Maquiladoras Employers The Matamoros maquiladora strike comes only a few weeks after a successful organizing effort by the Independent Metal Workers Union (STIMACHS) affiliated with the Authentic Labor Front (FAT) at the Han Young-Hyundai auto assembly plant in Tijuana, Baja California Norte. STIMACHS won two representation elections among Han Young workers, and then, with the help of the San Diego-based Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers, pressured the employer and the Baja California labor board to recognize the union. Another form of pressure on the maquiladora industry has come through legal channels. Last month the U.S. Labor Department found that thousands of maquiladoras administer pregnancy tests to women to screen out pregnant applicants, and also coerce pregnant workers to force them to resign. U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman said the discrimination against pregnant women seemed to violate Mexican law. But she stopped short of calling those practices an illegal violation of the Mexican Constitution and Federal Labor Law which prohibit sex discrimination. The charges had been brought under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) side agreements which established a National Administration Office (NAO) as part of the U.S. Labor Department to hear such charges. The charges were made by Human Rights Watch and other U.S. and Mexican human rights and labor rights organizations. International labor solidarity is also becoming an important factor in support for the maquiladora workers. While unions such as the United Electrical workers (UE) and the International Brother of Teamsters have been working with the Authentic Labor Front (FAT), the AFL had generally held aloof from such efforts. But in his recent visit to Mexico, AFL-CIO president John Sweeney told students at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City, "We want to stand with you to organize workers in the maquiladoras beginning with the guarantee of an authentic union for the Han Young workers in Tijuana." In addition, the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) recently decided to work with its Mexican affiliates and other labor unions and non-governmental organizations to support maquiladora organizing. The IMF plans to organize a conference on "Organizing in the Maquiladoras." These efforts at international solidarity will be tremendously important for the maquiladora worker. Economic Importance of Maquiladoras According to Marco A. Valenzuela, president of the National Council of the Maquiladora Export Industry (CNIME) Mexico has 3,833 maquiladora assembly plants employing one million workers. Maquiladora production, he asserts, makes up 40 percent of Mexico's total exports, and of the 110 billion U.S. dollars in foreign sales in 1997 the maquiladoras accounted for 42 billion. He predicts that there will be 5,000 maquiladoras by the year 2000. The Mexican Secretary of Commerce (SECOFI) gives somewhat different figures up through the month of November 1997. According to SECOFI Mexico had 3,819 maquiladoras employing 971,321 workers. Of all maquiladoras, according to SECOFI, 1,665 or 43.6 percent are owned by Mexican capital; 1,459 with U.S. capital; 448 with mixed U.S.-Mexican capital; 66 are Japanese; and the rest are owned by capital from other foreign countries. According to SECOFI the total value of maquiladora exports for 1997 was 4.18 billion dollars, making up 42.5 percent of Mexican exports. A Disastrous Social Situation While maquiladoras make up an important contribution to the Mexican economy, this is seldom reflected in the lives of maquiladora workers. In Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, some 400 maquiladoras provide employment to 200,000 workers, 65 percent of whom are women. Most workers earn an average of 26 pesos per day, or about U.S.$3.25. In Juarez, the ten-hour day and the six day week prevail. Juarez's government and employers simply do not permit union organization. Of 20 attempts to register unions since 1986, all have been rejected. The police generally break up workers movements for union recognition. Companies maintain blacklists of workers who participate in or sympathize with union organizing efforts. All economic development in Juarez revolves around the needs of the maquiladoras and the industrial parks in which they are located. Consequently while fine roads lead to modern industrial parks, social problems abound in Juarez. Half of all births in Juarez are to single mothers under 20 most of whom are maquiladora workers. The city has a deficit of 70,000 housing units, but 100 maquiladoras have sought an injunction against payments to INFONAVIT, the workers' housing program, claiming the national program is unconstitutional. The pressure of human rights organizations pursuing legal cases under the NAFTA side agreements, the organization of independent unions, and most important the unions' and workers' exercise of economic power through work stoppages and strikes could begin to change all of that, and it appears to be beginning to happening. ### HAN YOUNG WORKERS' UNION IN TALKS WITH MANAGEMENT; BUT NO NEGOTIATIONS YET; ACTIONS PLANNED FEB. 7 The Han Young workers' new independent labor union has held informal talks with management, but contract negotiations have not yet begun. Last month the Mexican federal government, the Baja California labor board, the Hyundai corporation, the Han Young company and the workers reached an agreement recognizing the workers' union, after it had won two representation elections at the Tijuana maquiladora plant. Under the terms of that agreement, the Han Young company which produces exclusively for Hyundai, was to begin contract negotiations with the new union. The workers voted to join the Independent Metal Workers Union (STIMAHCS) which is affiliated with the Authentic Labor Front (FAT). The campaign was won both through the determination of the maquiladora workers and the support of the San Diego-based Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers. But despite two representation elections and the agreement reached last month, the Han Young company continues to violate both that agreement and Mexican labor law. The Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers and the Campaign for Labor Rights have prepared to hold local protest demonstrations throughout the United States on February 7 to support the workers and keep pressure on the company. Demonstrations will be held at the Mexican consulates or at government buildings, though organizers say these are not demonstrations against any government. In addition, the National Administrative Office of the U.S. Labor Department which oversees the labor side agreements to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will hold hearings on the Han Young case on February 18. The Support Committee and the Campaign for Labor Rights urges supporters of the maquiladora workers to send a fax such as that below to Han Young's attorney: Lic. Ricardo Estrada Tijuana, Mexico Fax: 011-526-634-3554 Dear Mr. Estrada: In open defiance of the January 14 agreements signed by your client, Han Young, a representative of the CROC continues to be allowed to function in a "human relations" capacity at the factory. Also, management continues to take illegal punitive actions against workers who press for contract negotiations to begin. Han Young management has cited you as its counsel when blatantly violating Mexican labor law and blatantly violating the terms of the existing contract. You have a reputation as an intelligent and knowledgeable lawyer. Certainly, you would not want to risk your professional stature for the sake of one rogue client, the Han Young management. The Mexican federal government has emphatically stated its intention to enforce the terms of the January 14 agreements and to implement Mexican labor law with regard to the Han Young situation. Barring a satisfactory resolution of the situation at Han Young, the U.S. National Administrative Office will press forward with its hearing still scheduled for February 18. I hardly need to remind you of the urgency which the Mexican government feels about resolving this situation and avoiding a hearing. Time is running short. I urge you to steer your client in a direction which will not put you on a collision course with the Mexican federal government. Please see to it that Han Young management immediately ceases its violations of the January 14 agreements and its violations of Mexican labor law. Sincerely, 295-5879 ----- [Based on a report by Labor Alerts from Information provided by the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers, who ask that activists seeking updates contact Campaign for Labor Rights: (541 344-5410, ]. ### MEXICAN TEACHERS MOBILIZE AS OPPOSITION PREPARES FOR CONVENTION Mexican teachers of the 1.2 million member National Teachers Union (SNTE) have begun a series of mobilizations aimed at state teachers' conventions and at the national convention to take place in March 10-13. In a shift from his usual policies, SNTE general secretary Humberto Davila Esquivel has called for a national demonstration to protest violence against teachers, and promised to meet with the opposition before the convention. In mid-January 25,000 teachers in different cities throughout the state of Oaxaca demonstrated to demand of the SNTE national leadership the right to hold a state convention to elect a new leadership for SNTE Local 22. They also demanded payment of the remaining 50 percent of their Christmas bonus (aguinaldo) still owed them, and for the withdrawal of the Mexican Army from the indigenous zones of Oaxaca, Chiapas and Guerrero. Oaxaca represents one of the strongest bases of the National Coordinating Committee of the Teachers Union (la CNTE), the union's principal opposition caucus. Taking a cue from the opposition, SNTE head Davila Esquivel has called for a national day of protest against violence against teachers on February 14. Esquivel spoke out against violence against teachers in Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guerrero and Sinaloa, and called for demonstrations in cities throughout Mexico, as well as a major demonstration in Mexico City. Mexican paramilitary organizations, police forces, and the Mexican Army have arrested, kidnapped, tortured and murdered a number of teachers in those states. Can the Opposition Unite? Meanwhile, dissident teachers are still trying to come up with a unified slate to oppose Davila Esquivel's group which is loyal to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The union has three dissidents currents--the National Coordinating Committee (la CNTE), the Democratic Factions, and New Unionism-- which are seeking unity to the pro-government leadership. In a departure from the leadership's usual practice, the SNTE chief Davila Esquivel has promised to hold a dialogue with the opposition groups in February to prepare for the March convention. The proposal for such a dialogue had been made by New Unionism, the most moderate of the opposition groups. Esquivel promised to meet with New Unionism and la CNTE; whether or not Democratic Factions would be excluded remains unclear. New Unionism has also called for a change from the union's centralized structure to a more federal structure, reflecting the decentralization of Mexico's educational system since 1992. Toward the end of January, Democratic Fractions accused Esquivel and the union's executive committee of failure to properly convene the national convention. Esquivel denied the charges saying the 3,000 delegates would convene for the March convention as previously announced. The Education Budget One of the teachers' biggest concerns is the education budget. In December the conservative National Action Party (PAN), which had been in opposition, joined the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), in voting for president Zedillo's budget. Based on a fall in petroleum prices and therefore in revenues to the state-owned Mexican Petroleum company (PEMEX), Zedillo presented a reduced education budget, which was passed by the PRI-PAN majority. The center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) criticized the PRI's education budget, saying it would provide for no more than 17.2 percent in wage increases for the SNTE's 1.2 million members. SNTE head Esquivel says that a 17.2 percent wage increase would not recover the teachers' lost purchasing power. ### PRD MAYOR CUAUHTEMOC CARDENAS SURVIVES FIRST DEALINGS WITH PRI UNIONS Mexico City Cuauhtemoc Cardenas of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) survived his first contest with the city workers' unions controlled by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). First in the area of wages, while the Mexican federal government granted workers an increase of only 14 percent in the minimum wage, Cardenas and the city's PRD-dominated Legislative Assembly of the Federal District, Mexico's city council, went further granting city employees an 18 percent wage hike. This wage increase fulfilled Cardenas's promise to raise wages above the level of inflation so that workers could begin, however slowly, to recoup their purchasing power. A study by the Bank of Mexico showed that inflation in the city in 1997 was 15.65 percent, so Cardenas's raise was 2.35 points above inflation. In reality, however, Cardenas's 18 percent wage increase for Mexico City workers is very close to the 17 to 20 percent being granted by other government and private employers. The PRD's wage increase is in fact not very different than the PRI's. The Sole Union of Workers of the Government of the Federal District (SUTGDF) had demanded a 26 percent wage increase for its 100,000 members, almost half of the 220,000 city workers. The SUTGDF forms part of the Federation of Unions of Workers at the Service of the State (FSTSE) affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The SUTGDF's demand for a 26 percent increase was clearly intended to embarrass Cardenas. PRD Attacks Corruption in PRI Union At the same time the PRD is putting pressure on the SUTGDF. Armando Quintero, a PRD leader in the city government, has called for an investigation into the PRI union. He wants to know why all the SUTGDF executive committee members, and all local section committee members received overtime pay without working. He also objects to SUTGDF statutes which require all union members to affiliate with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Other unions have been more supportive of the new Cardenas administration. Benito Bahena, a leader of the small Street Car Workers Union (ATM) and Heron Rosales, a leader of the National Confederation of Workers, a small labor federation, both supported Cardenas, while noting that an 18 percent wage increase would not meet their members' needs. "But at least," said Rosales, "it marks the beginning of a new relationship with the workers." Employers Attack Cardenas for Wage Increase Employers, on the other hand, attacked Cardenas for granting an inflationary wage increase. Jorge Marin Santillan and Armando Araujo, leaders respectively of CONCAMIN and CONCANACO, two of the most important employers' association, condemned the city workers' wage increase as "unilateral and erroneous." Marin Santillan said that history showed that such inflationary wage increases only lead to a more rapid loss of purchasing power in inflationary spirals. Meanwhile Cardenas has made overtures to small business in Mexico City, granting a six-month grace period for the enforcement of all regulations in commercial establishments such as hotels, bars, restaurants, public baths, and beauty salons. Business people will be given six months to regularize their legal status before any inspections are made. At the same time, Cardenas and the PRD will work to reduce small business paperwork to make compliance easier. Cardenas has appealed to lawyers, accountants, engineers and architects to support the authorities when inspections are made in six months so that hygiene and safety measures, such as fire extinguishers and emergency exits are met. Cardenas said the city didn't care about the loss of fines during this six month period, but wanted to encourage a reactivation of the economy. ### VICTOR FLORES EXPELS DISSIDENT RAILROAD WORKERS; NEARLY COMES TO BLOWS WITH OPPOSITION CONGRESSMEN Victor Flores Morales, head of the Mexican Railroad Workers Union (STFRM) nearly came to blows with opposition congressmen and expelled a group of dissident railroad workers from his union last month. Both acts were part of his effort to prevent any political or union opposition to his complete support for the privatization of the Mexican National Railways. As hearings were about to be held on the Mexican railways before the labor commission of the Mexican House of Representatives on January 16, some dissident railroad workers showed up to protest the government's privatization policies. Flores Morales, who in addition to heading the STFRM is also a congressman, also showed up to the session accompanied by a hundred union goons. The presence of the opposing groups of railroad workers led Juan Moises Calleja, a congressman of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, to cancel the session. Meanwhile Flores Morales got into a shouting match with Javier Paz Zarza of the conservative National Action Party (PAN) and with Pablo Sandoval Ramirez and Rosalio Hernandez Beltran of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). Flores Morales accused the PAN and PRD delegates of interfering in the life of the Railroad Workers Union. Flores Morales and PAN Congressman Paz Zarza had to be separated to prevent them from coming to blows. Paz Zarza accused Flores Morales's goons of threatening to kill him. Expels Dissidents Immediately after leaving the House of Representatives, Flores Morales went straight to STFRM Local 16 to break up a meeting of the "Heroes of Nacozari," a dissident railroad workers' group. Now accompanied by as many as 300 toughs, Flores Morales entered the hall and broke up the meeting. On the spot Flores Morales convened a court made up of several local union general secretaries in his entourage, and expelled from the Railroad Workers Union both Vicente Valencia and Antonio Sanchez, the leaders of the dissident group, and all of their followers. The union dissidents were charged with having distributed propaganda paid for by the PRD. Then, to chants of "Out Traitors!" the union dissidents were driven from the hall. Afterwards, Flores Morales defended the trial and expulsion, saying that the workers had published a leaflet, a manifesto of their views, which is prohibited by the union statutes. In any case, he said, they were only ten workers, some active and some retired, and didn't represent anybody anyway. ### FARM LABORERS RIOT IN SINALOA Some 150 agricultural laborers rioted and destroyed buildings and equipment at the Bon Bustamante packing plant at Estacion Bamoa, Guasave, Sinaloa on January 19. The company employs 4,800 laborers, most of them from the southern states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, Michoacan and Hidalgo. The rampaging workers burned a tractor, damaged five trailers, broke windows and destroyed buildings to protest Bon Bustamante's failure to pay them 40 pesos per day as they had been promised. The company had instead been paying them only 35 pesos per day. (Eight pesos=about one U.S. dollar.) From five until nine in the morning the workers armed with metal tubes, iron bars, and stones moved through the packing plant shutting down operations. After bringing production to a halt, they began to demolish the building and vehicles belonging to the company. Then they went through the town shouting and threatening those who got in their way. The workers only agreed to cease their activities when the company accepted Ricardo Armenta Beltran, a congressman of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) as a mediator. Armenta Beltran said the workers wanted their 40 pesos per day plus transportation and medical care. They also demanded that the company stop deducting union dues, because they did not want to belong to the union of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM). The mayor of Guasave, Jaime Saul Leyva Diaz sent 20 patrol cars and 160 police to protect the company and its property. The farm workers broke the windows of at least one police car. ### DINA AUTO WORKERS PREPARE TO STRIKE ON FEB. 6 The 2,000 auto workers employed by the four plants which make up National Diesel or DINA, the Mexican automaker, voted in a general assembly held in late January to strike the company on February 6 if it does not agree to their demands for a 35 percent wage increase. The company has offered only a 17.5 percent wage increase. DINA is demanding changes in 41 clauses of the union contract. Felix Castillo Cuevas, head of the DINA union, considers this an illegal attack on the union contract. The union has held meetings with management mediated by the Secretary of Labor's office in an attempt to reach agreement and avoid a strike. ### METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY WORKERS SETTLE FOR 17 PERCENT WAGE GAIN The Independent Union of Workers of the Autonomous Metropolitan University (SITUAM) voted to accept a wage offer of 17 percent, plus 4 percent in benefits, thus averting a strike at the elite public university. The delegates voted 152 in favor of accepting the offer and 15 against, while 5 abstained. The delegates vote reflected a secret ballot vote of the membership which was overwhelmingly against striking. Several other university unions have also settled for wage gains in the 17 to 20 percent range. ### LABOR FEDERATIONS JOCKEY OVER MAY DAY MARCH The Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM) has led the annual May Day march in Mexico City since the 1930s, bringing hundreds of thousands of workers to the Zocalo, the National Plaza, to salute the President as he stood in the balcony of the National Palace. While in some other countries May Day was a day of international labor solidarity, in Mexico it became a day of working class submission to the national state. Then four years ago, CTM leader Fidel Velazquez decided to cancel the May Day march, and independent unions, workers, and the poor took to the streets. For three years the parade has been a glorious independent working class affair. Now the Congress of Labor is considering renewing the practice of leading the May Day parade, and denying the new opposition union federation, the National Union of Workers (UNT) the opportunity to lead the march. At the same time the UNT has said it will ask the May First Inter-Union Coordinating Committee (CIPM) to join sponsoring an independent May Day workers' march. The UNT says it will march for higher wages, better benefits, and improvements in the pensions of retirees. Thus the May Day march takes on new importance as a symbol of the struggle between the old federations controlled by the state-party and the new more independent federations. ### CORRECTION The article, "ECHLIN-ITAPSA WORKERS BEATEN AT AMERICAN BRAKEBLOCK PLANT," in the January 16, 1998 issue of MLNA incorrectly identified the victims and those present on the scene of an attack at Echlin-subsidiary American Brakeblock. The story incorrectly identified ITAPSA worker Oscar Manuel Buendía Valverde as one of the individuals beaten outside the factory. In fact ITPASA van driver Arturo Hernandez Arturo Hernandez was among those beaten. In addition, the article should have described as present eight fired ITAPSA workers along with a STIMAHCS union organizer and two observers. Our apologies for the error. - Editor. ### END MEXICAN LABOR NEWS AND ANALYSIS, VOL. 3, NO. 3, 2 FEBRUARY 98 --WebTV-Mail-1889888441-13020--