Open
World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
CALL FOR THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF TRADE
UNIONISTS AND YOUTH IN DEFENSE OF THE LABOR RIGHTS OF MAQUILADORA WORKERS
Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, April 24, 2004
- NO TO NAFTA! NO TO THE FREE TRADE OF THE AMERICA (FTAA)!
- FOR THE UNITY AND SOLIDARITY OF THE WORKERS OF THE AMERICAS !
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
This coming April 24, the International Conference of Trade Unionists and
Youth in Defense of the Labor Rights of Maquiladora Workers will be held
in the city of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico.
The implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has
meant, among other things, the promotion of pass-through assembly
sweatshops, or maquiladoras, at the same time that industry has been
dismantled across Mexico. These companies deny workers the most elementary
labor rights on a daily basis, demonstrated by the nonexistence of the
eight-hour work day and the seven-hour night shift. In these factories it
is common to see inhumane working days of 10, 12 or 14 continuous hours,
unjustified layoffs without compensation -- work under the worst
conditions of exploitation, with no protection whatsoever for the lives or
welfare of the workers.
This is also an industry that practices child labor and employs elderly
persons, negates the right to maternity leave and pays poverty wages,
between 10 and 20 or more times lower than wages paid in the countries
where those companies are headquartered. Finally, this industry enjoys the
protection of the authorities. In all this, the objective is to reduce
labor costs.
Half or more of those who work in the maquiladoras are women; their
terrible exploitation and lack of protection taken to its extreme can be
seen in the crimes of rape and murder in Ciudad Juarez, where many of the
victims were young maquiladora workers.
All these violations of rights have their basis in the negation of the
right to unionize and to collective bargaining, stipulated in Mexico's
Federal Labor Law (LFT), as well as in Conventions 87 and 98 of the
International Labor Organization (ILO), which Mexico has ratified and that
are therefore part of its national legislation.
Given these conditions, the workers of the Daewoo Orion assembly plant in
Mexicali have lauched a fight for the recognition of their independent
union. Not surprisingly, the main promoters of the union have been fired.
Their demands, which we support, are the rehiring of the fired workers and
respect for the right to be organized in a union.
We also support the former workers of the "Flor de Baja"
maquiladora company, which closed down and left its workers unprotected.
Now, these workers are fighting for the respect of their labor rights,
including unpaid wages and severance pay.
In the United States, the existence of the maquiladoras is used as
pressure against workers to force them to accept lower wages and benefits.
The companies threaten to relocate factories to Mexico if workers don't
make concessions. Thus, the fight for the respect of labor rights in the
maquiladoras in Mexico is also the fight for the respect of the conquests
and working conditions of U.S. workers.
The implementation in January 2005 of the Free Trade Area of the Americas
(FTAA) would mean the deepening of the policies of exploitation of workers
and the negation of labor rights throughout the entire continent. It would
mean the dismantling of national frameworks with the objective of
plundering the natural resources of our nations for the benefit of the big
multinational companies. It would mean the extension of the
"maquiladora" model throughout the Americas.
The conference of April 24 in Mexicali is an initiative agreed to by the
Continental Conference of Workers against the FTAA, at the request of the
Mexican maquiladora workers. (That conference was held in Sao Paulo,
Brazil on December 12-14, 2003 and was initiated by 50 union leaders from
the United States and 50 union leaders from Brazil.)
In these moments of terrible crisis, the unions across Mexico have called
for the defense of the nation and the social rights of the Mexican people.
With the march called on November 27, 2003 by the National Union of
Workers (UNT), the Mexican Electrical Workers (SME) and other union and
peasant organizations, it was possible to stop the imminent privatization
of the electricity industry. Recently, the mobilizations and the public
statements of the National Union of Workers of the Mexican Institute of
Social Security and Public Health (IMSS) have expressed the urgent need to
defend their national pension and retirement system. The unions have an
important role to fulfill in this decisive hour.
Union brothers and sisters, union and youth leaders, we invite you to be
part of this fight for the application of Conventions 87 and 98 of the
International Labor Organization, for the respect of the labor rights
contained in Mexican Federal Labor Law, knowing that the respect for the
rights of one will be the respect for the rights of all.
Thank you for your interest and support,
In Solidarity,
CONFERENCE CONVENERS IN MEXICALI
Comité de Apoyo a los Trabajadores de Maquiladora, Movimiento por la
Libertad y los Derechos Laborales de los Trabajadores de la Industria
Maquiladora, Sindicato de Trabajadores del Colegio de Bachilleres de Baja
California, Sección VII del Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores del
Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de
ISSSTECALI y representante de la UNT en BC, Jubilados Ferrocarrileros de
la Sección 65 del STFRM, Comité contra la Privatización de la Educación,
Juventud Revolución.
FIRST ENDORSERS IN THE UNITED STATES
San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO), Continuations Commitee of the Open
World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic
Rights (OWC), California Fair Trade Campaign, Global Exchange-Mexico
Campaign, GCIU Local 4-N, Revolution Youth.