------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 06:28:08 -0700 (PDT) To: Campaign for Labor Rights e-mail list <clr@igc.org> From: Mike Rhodes <clr2@igc.apc.org> Subject: Potential Hyundai Motors boycott: URGENT!
Labor Alerts/Labor News a service of Campaign for Labor Rights 1247 "E" Street SE, Washington, DC 20003 <CLR@igc.apc.org> (541) 344-5410 http://www.compugraph.com/clr
************************************* Potential Boycott of Hyundai Motors PLEASE MAKE LOCAL PREPARATIONS Campaign for Labor Rights considers the Han Young/Hyundai campaign one of our top priorities. If the firing of pro-union workers continues, there will be an urgent need for action by local human rights organizations, student groups, communities of faith and organized labor. *************************************
[Please see accompanying news articles in separate emails for more information on the Han Young situation.]
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS at the Han Young feeder plant for the Hyundai tractor-trailer factory near Tijuana:
*** Two more of the most vocal pro-union workers have been fired since the union certification election on October 5, making a total now of 9 who have been fired for their union activities.
*** Management told the two workers who were fired that the company plans to bring in 50 more workers from Vera Cruz, to replace the entire current pro-union workforce. (On Sept. 3, the day the union certification election originally was scheduled, the company had already brought in 20 Vera Cruz workers, who now reside in housing paid for by the company and who are kept apart from the rest of the Han Young workers.)
*** So far, the Mexican labor board has refused to rule on the election. Observers who monitored the election are unanimous in stating that the workers voted overwhelmingly in favor of the independent STIMAHCS union, even counting the more than 30 votes from fraudulent workers bused in by the company.
*** Lawyers for the union are seeking to have criminal charges brought against those who committed perjury during the union election by falsely stating that they were employees of Han Young or who lied about the date of their hire. (Some of those bused in by the company could not even state who their supposed employer was. Also fraudulently voting were managers and people hired after the workers registered their request for a union certification vote. None of the people bused in by the company for the election had any legal right to vote.)
*** The San Diego-based human rights organization, the Support Committee for Maquiladora workers, has nearly completed editing of a video made during the union certification election. They intend to show the video to officials in the Mexican and U.S. governments. (This struggle is taking place during a high-profile struggle over fast track trade legislation in Congress.)
*** At a press conference in Tijuana on October 8, officials from Gobernacion (the counterpart of the U.S. Justice Department) privately told reporters that they were looking for staff of the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers, to serve papers barring them from Mexico. (This is yet one more example of how "free trade" means that borders are completely open to corporations but can be used to separate human beings who share a common purpose.)
*** Just prior to the election, the head of the elections board "resigned." The union busting consultant hired by Han Young "resigned" the day of the election. The general manager of the Han Young plant told workers that he is planning on "resigning." All of these departures strongly suggest that both the Mexican government and the owners of Han Young (who are beholden to the Hyundai factory for all of their business) have decided to take an even harder line against the workers.
Although some of the above developments can be considered no more than threats, Mary Tong of the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers noted that, "So far, they have carried out every threat that they [the company] have made."
************************************* REQUESTED ACTION: Local organizations: Please make preparations for a possible boycott of Hyundai Motors:
*** Alert your members to be ready for leafleting at Hyundai Motors outlets on very short notice.
*** Contact other organizations in your community who might work in alliance with you - human rights groups, student groups, communities of faith, union locals and local labor councils.
*** Investigate your community's Hyundai outlets - look in the phone book; call and ask each outlet whether its mechanics are unionized. If there is a choice, we strongly urge you to conduct leafleting at nonunionized outlets.
*** Stay tuned - watch for more alerts on the Han Young/Hyundai situation. If you know people who might be interested in this struggle, please tell them about our email labor alert service so that they can receive updates directly. *************************************
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact Campaign for Labor Rights at CLR@igc.apc.org or (541) 344-5410 if you would like to find out more about the Han Young/Hyundai campaign. Campaign for Labor Rights has agreed to take primary responsibility for mobilizing grassroots support for this struggle. Campaign for Labor Rights works under the direction of the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers in this campaign.
We will refer you to the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers if expert knowledge is needed to answer your questions. You can reach the Support Committee directly at scmw@juno.com or (619) 542-0826. However, please remember that the staff of the Support Committee cannot carry out their important work if they have to respond to thousands of inquiries from local activists. Unless you are with the news media, please use Campaign for Labor Rights as your first contact for information.
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