borderlines UPDATER                                             17 February 1998

NAO Hearings on Han Young Violations of Mexican Labor Law Tomorrow

Editor: George Kourous
Assistant Editor/Reporter: Tina Faulkner
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CONTENTS:

1. NAO Pressure Felt by Han Young Management, Hearings Tomorrow

2. Management Dragging its Feet as Safety Problems Go Unaddressed

3. Cross Border Solidarity, Second Submission, Test NAO's Mettle

4. Contacts for Further Action

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NAO HEARINGS PRESSURE HAN YOUNG MANAGEMENT
Agency Inquiry Starts This Wednesday, February 18

The US Department of Labor's National Administrative Office (NAO), the US agency charged with ensuring compliance with the NAFTA labor side agreement in Canada and Mexico, has recently begun investigating two submissions charging the Mexican government with abuse of its own labor laws. These submissions bring the number of submissions against Mexico entered with the NAO to a total of nine.

On February 18, the NAO will hold public hearings in San Diego regarding the treatment of workers at the Han Young plant outside Tijuana. The hearing is a result of the agency's November 17 acceptance of a submission charging the Mexican government with failure to protect workers' right to freedom of association at the Hyundai feeder plant. The submission was filed by the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers (SCMW), the Mexican Union of Metal, Steel, Iron and Allied Workers (STIMAHCS), the National Association of Democratic Lawyers, and the International Labor Rights Fund.

But despite progress on the case over the past two months, behind the scenes attempts to roll back STIMAHCS' gains continue.

On December 13, when a compromise among management, the state government and workers fell through, the workers asked the federal government to intervene. But instead of providing impartial assistance to the workers, the federal government maneuvered to have a second election held.

According to the Campaign for Labor Rights, federal government officials offered bribes to officials of the traditional plant union, the Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Farmers (CROC), to allow an affiliate of the Congress of Mexican Workers (CTM) to run against STIMAHCS. The government hoped to pass this new option on the ballot as an independent union, and thus attract workers' votes. Despite efforts at manipulation, workers voted against the CTM affiliate.

The federal government intervened in the case again in the early part of January, but this time, largely as a result of pressure brought on by the NAO's announcement that it would investigate the case, the results were more positive for Han Young workers.

On Jan 14, an agreement was signed by the local Conciliation and Arbitration Board (the Mexican government labor board) and STIMAHCS stating that STIMAHCS had sole bargaining power at Han Young and mandating that both the CTM and CROC cease and desist from interference at Han Young.

According to Mary Tong of the SCMW, "the impending hearings-- combined with Irasema Garza [US NAO director] dealing with her counterparts in Mexico, as well as [efforts by] several congresspeople who have been supporters of the Han Young workers-- seem to have brought pressure to bear on the federal government in Mexico to intervene. And it was only because of that federal intervention that the workers did get the collective bargaining rights."

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MANAGEMENT DRAGGING ITS FEET AS SAFETY PROBLEMS GO UNADDRESSED

Under Mexican law, when a union certification election results in the replacement of one union by another, the new union begins bargaining with management over the previous contract. Negotiations cannot begin, however, until one year after the signing of the previous contract. Since the last contract at Han Young was signed in May 1997, STIMAHCS must wait until that time to make changes to the agreement. STIMAHCS representatives and activists involved have argued, however, that the old contract lacks many basic wage and safety protections, and have pressed for negotiations to begin prior to May.

While agreeing to consider early negotiations, management has stepped up its attempts to undermine the recent power that STIMAHCS has gained. Han Young management recently hired several pro-CTM workers from Veracruz, and it appears that they plan to hire approximately 80 workers in total. Once these workers are on the payroll, Han Young management could easily call for yet another election, which the CTM would be guaranteed to win. This foot dragging appears to be a result of pressure from the government affiliated unions. There are reports that while STIMAHCS representatives are barred from entering the plant, a CROC official continues as the human resources manager there, and that CTM representatives have met with management in violation of the Jan 14th agreements.

Meanwhile, safety problems at the Han Young plant go unaddressed. Cranes used to move chassis during production have failed repeatedly, dropping them dangerously close to workers.

Given the high production quotas facing workers, such accidents are unsurprising. In 1994, Han Young set a daily production quota of 14 chassis per day in order for the workers to receive a production bonus. Since that time, the quota has increased to 20, an extremely difficult level for workers to achieve. Thus despite the negotiation of a wage increase in December, management has effectively eliminated the bonuses the workers used to receive. Workers are demanding that management reduce the quota to 18.

To press these demands, workers have engaged in a series of work stoppages. On Jan. 23, the entire production force of the factory refused to enter the plant. These stoppages, combined with international pressures from NGOs, seem to have encouraged Hyundai to take some action. Hyundai has committed to repairing the faulty cranes at the Han Young facility.

Due to the volatile nature of the situation, petitioners have decided to continue to pursue the NAO investigation as leverage. NAO director Garza has pledged the agency's determination to investigate the case. "Absent a complete settlement and as part of that settlement, a request that the case be withdrawn , there will be a report," she said. The report must be issued by March 17, unless NAO investigators request an extension of 60 more days.

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CROSS-BORDER SOLIDARITY, SECOND SUBMISSION TEST NAO'S METTLE

On Jan 30, the NAO agreed to investigate another submission charging the Mexican government with failure to enforce its freedom of association laws. The investigation is in response to a submission filed with the NAO on Dec. 15, which charged the Mexican government and the CTM with failure to protect the right of workers to form a union at the ITAPSA plant located in Ciudad de los Reyes, outside Mexico City.

The charges were filed by the Echlin Workers Alliance, a group of unions from the US and Canada which includes the Teamsters, the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), the Union of Needletrades and Industrial Textile Employees (UNITE), the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America, the United Paperworkers International Union, and the United Steelworkers of America in both the US and Canada.

The ITAPSA plant, a subsidiary of Connecticut based Echlin Inc., produces disk brakes for export to the US and Canada. Plant employees regularly work with asbestos and toxic chemicals, and complain that the CTM union that has been their official representative to management has not acted to ensure proper safety measures are taken. Last year, workers began an organizing drive for an election of an independent union, another local branch of STIMAHCS.

ITAPSA workers charge that their efforts have been met by CTM condoned intimidation. During the weeks before the scheduled September election, 52 union activists were fired. On Sept 8, the night before the election, workers report that they were detained in the plant by approximately 170 armed men organized by the CTM. The workers and their families were threatened with beatings and rape, and one worker was in fact beaten during the election. Appointees of the local Conciliation and Arbitration Board, the government body overseeing the elections, ignored the obvious human and labor rights violations that were occurring and certified the election results. Under the atmosphere of oppression, the workers voted for the CTM affiliate and against STIMAHCS.

Petitioners have requested that the Mexican government protect the workers' right to form an independent union by ensuring elections can be held in an atmosphere free from intimidation and with impartial supervision by labor authorities. They have also asked that the Mexican government establish a public registry of unions and contracts, since such information is not available to Mexican workers and unions. Finally, petitioners have requested that steps be taken to address safety concerns at the plant, including provision of safety equipment and an impartial inspection of the site by the proper authorities.

Currently, petitioners are planning to submit an amended submission by February 13. As in the case of the Han Young workers submission, the NAO must produce a report on the ITAPSA submission within 120 from the date of acceptance of the petition.

Although not a supranational body, the NAO is capable of providing a diplomatic critique of the status of Mexican labor. Its recent report on gender discrimination in borderlands maquiladoras suggested that Mexican laws against discrimination need to be clarified, and called on US Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman to enter into ministerial consultations with her Mexican counterpart, Javier Bonilla.

International diplomatic pressure can be can be a source of pressure on a Mexican government that has responded very little to in-country efforts in the past. However, labor movements which are transnational in membership and highly focused on placing pressure on companies, such as the now on-hold boycott against Hyundai, probably have a greater chance to reduce labor exploitation in Mexico. The growing cross border solidarity and collaboration among unions in the three NAFTA countries which produced these recent NAO submissions indicates that NAFTA's labor agreements can work, especially when pushed, prodded, and shaped by citizen engagement.

That fact, not to mention the continuing need for transboundary labor standards among NAFTA trading partners which the Han Young and Echlin cases exemplify, should not be forgotten in Washington during the coming "fast track II" debate.

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CONTACTS FOR FURTHER ACTION:

· US NAO: (202) 219-6373 ext. 4
  Website: http://www.dol.gov

· Committee on Labor Rights: (541) 344-5410
  Website: http://www.compugraph.com/clr

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