X-WebTV-Signature: 1 ETAtAhUAxxWVq+hHON2GBuk8v7O3SNel+9ECFB6osEKdpGcxyt1kqUXjpjneyUtj From: xcruz@webtv.net (Robert Chavez) Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 00:02:16 -0600 (MDT) To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu Subject: Han Young: 2nd factory joins struggle! (fwd) Sender: owner-frontera-l@nmsu.edu From: dnathan@utep.edu (Debbie Nathan) Date: Thu, Jul 30, 1998, 10:33pm To: frontera-L@nmsu.edu Subject: Han Young: 2nd factory joins struggle! (fwd) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 15:05:43 -0700 (PDT) From: Campaign for Labor Rights To: clr@igc.org Subject: Han Young: 2nd factory joins struggle! Labor Alerts: a service of Campaign for Labor Rights To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to CLR@igc.apc.org Phone: (541) 344-5410 Web site: www.compugraph.com/clr Membership/newsletter. Send $35.00 to Campaign for Labor Rights, 1247 "E" Street SE, Washington, DC 20003. Sample newsletter available on request. [Information provided by staff of the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers, who ask that activists seeking updates contact Campaign for Labor Rights: (541) 344-5410, ] HAN YOUNG WORKER BEGINS SPEAKING TOUR Workers at second factory seek to join independent union!!! posted July 30, 1998 1) Update on events in Tijuana The Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers has maintained from the outset of the Han Young struggle that this isn't about just one factory. Han Young sets a precedent for other workers in Tijuana and all along the border area. Two and a half weeks ago, this prediction was proved true, when workers at the Axiohm factory in Tijuana filed to join "October 6," the independent union founded by the Han Young workers. Axiohm, which produces impact and magnetic printheads for industrial printers, such as those which print lottery tickets and ATM receipts, has a local workforce varying from 350 to 400 workers. It is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and has factories in Ithaca (New York), Denver (Colorado), Carson and Paso Robles (California), Riverton (Wyoming), France and Manchester (England). Within a couple of days, the labor board rejected the Axiohm workers' petition to join the October 6 union - on the grounds that another union also wants to file. The basis for the board's rejection is, of course, ridiculous, since the situation should be resolved by promptly scheduling a union certification election. The Axiohn workers have filed an appeal of the board's decision. Until now, the Support Committee has not released any statements about the situation at Axiohm, hoping that the dispute could be resolved through discussions with Axiohm management. However, since Axiohm has so far not taken any visible steps to intervene on behalf of justice and compliance with Mexican labor law , the Axiohm workers decided last night to go public. 2) Update on speaking tour Today, Han Young worker Fernando Flores began a speaking tour along the West Coast of the United States and Canada. Thousands of people who have been reading alerts on the Internet now will be able to hear directly from one of the workers involved in this historic struggle. Fernando Flores is the General Secretary of the Han Young Section (Local) of the October 6 Commercial and Industrial Workers Union and has been General Secretary of the independent union at Han Young since the beginning of the struggle. Last fall, he also was one of the workers who engaged in a 26-day hunger strike at the Tijuana State Building. The translator for nearly all of the tour (California, Oregon and Washington) will be Alma Ortiz, a Swarthmore College student who is brand new to the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers. She is a native Spanish speaker from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Trim Bissell, national coordinator of Campaign for Labor Rights, will accompany the tour from Eugene, Oregon until the final appearance in Victoria, British Columbia. He hopes to be able to post reports from some of the cities along the route. The tour is sponsored by the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers (Mary Tong, executive director); Craftsmen Hall, 3909 Centre St., #210, San Diego, CA 92103; phone: (619) 542-0826; fax: (619) 295-5879; . The entire tour has been organized by Bruce Allen, a union activist who lives in Ontario, Canada - with help from a number of local and regional activists who also are volunteering their time and energy.