Open
World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
Campaign in Defense of the Daewoo
Maquiladora Workers in Mexicali, Mexico
Support the April 24 International Conference in
Mexicali in Defense of the Daewoo Workers!
Five workers at the Daewoo Orion de Mexico (DOMEX) maquiladora plant
were fired from their jobs last fall after they tried to form an
independent union to improve their wages and working conditions.
Maquiladoras are pass-through sweatshop factories that have been exempted
from Mexican labor legislation.
The five fired workers who took the lead in organizing a genuine union at
Daewoo are Juan Carlos Espinoza Bravo (interim general secretary), Victor
Ortega (interim organizing director), Rita Soltero (interim recording
secretary), and Rogelio Torres and Alan Lechuga Moreno of the interim
executive board.
The Daewoo maquiladora factory produces TV screens for the U.S. market. It
is owned by a Korean multinational corporation. It employs more than 800
workers. For the past four years, workers have received no wage increases,
even though management got numerous raises. The rate of job injuries has
increased dramatically during this period due to speed-up.
Last October, about 40 of these workers formed a union. They submitted
their union registration application to the National Reconciliation Board.
Soon after, Daewoo management began to harass the workers who had signed
onto the union, taking away bonus points for punctuality, productivity,
attendance and loyalty -- which was tantamount to a wage cut of 200 pesos
per month, a considerable sum considering their incredibly low wages. When
some of the workers protested this abuse, they were fired.
Meanwhile the Reconciliation Board has ignored the Daewoo workers'
petition to form a union, even though formally they must announce their
decision to certify a new union 60 days after the application is filed.
The Daewoo workers, together with workers in other maquiladora plants in
the Mexicali region, have launched a new organization -- the Movement for
Freedom and Labor Rights for Workers in the Maquiladora Industry (MOLDELTIM)
-- and are calling on the trade union movement in the United States and
across the Americas to support their struggle for independent unions and
labor rights. They insist that workers in the maquiladoras must be granted
at least the same labor rights as all workers throughout Mexico.
At the Western Hemisphere Workers Conference Against the FTAA held in Sao
Paulo, Brazil, on December 12-13, the Mexican delegation brought a
proposal to the conference to constitute an International Commission of
Inquiry that would travel to Mexicali to investigate the living, working
and union conditions of the maquiladora workers at the Daewoo and other
plants.
The Open World Conference Continuations Committee supports this effort
and, in coordination with the MOLDETIM organizers, is calling on labor
officials, unionists and activists in the United States, Mexico and Canada
to participate in a one-day conference in Mexicali on Saturday, April 24,
to listen to the testimonies of the fired Daewoo workers and other workers
in the maquiladora industry, and to promote a wider solidarity campaign on
their behalf, including a much-needed financial campaign, as the fired
workers have been blacklisted and no maquiladora will give them work.
Please fill out the coupon below if you are interested in participating in
this Conference in Support of the Maquiladora Workers in Mexicali on April
24th. Also, we ask all supporters of labor rights, whether you are able to
come to Mexicali or not, to please send statements to Daewoo management
and to the authorities in the state of Baja California protesting the
repression and demanding the immediate reinstatement in their jobs of the
five fired workers: Juan Carlos Espinoza Bravo, Victor Ortega, Rita
Soltero, Rogelio Torres, and Alan Lechuga Moreno.
Please send your protest statements to:
C. Eugenio Elorduy
Governor, State of Baja California, Mexico
gobernador@baja.gob.mx
Myung Soo Choi,
Chief Executive Officer
Daewoo Orion de Mexico
mschoi@domex.com.mx
Please send copies to Humberto Brizuela at brizuela@hotmail.com
and to the OWC Continuations Committee at ilcinfo@earthlink.net
.
Thanks, in advance, for your support,
Eddie Rosario and Alan Benjamin,
Co-coordinators,
OWC Continuations Committee
*********************
APRIL 24TH MEXICALI CONFERENCE
SUPPORT/PARTICIPATION COUPON
[ ] I am interested in participating in the April 24th Conference in
Mexicali in Support of the Daewoo Maquiladora Workers. Please send me more
information
[ ] I cannot attend the April 24th Conference, but I am hereby making a
pledge for $ ____ to the Daewoo Maquiladora Workers Support Fund. I will
send a check or money order, payable to OWC, c/o San Francisco Labor
Council, 1188 Franklin St. #203, San Francisco, CA 94109. Please mark
Daewoo workers' fund on your check or money order.
NAME
UNION/ORG
CITY/STATE
COUNTRY
TEL.
EMAIL
(please fill out and return to OWC at ilcinfo@earthlink.net)