------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date: Sat, 20 Dec 1997 18:30:33 -0800 (PST) To: clr@igc.org From: Campaign for Labor Rights <clr@igc.apc.org> Subject: Han Young: more betrayals
Labor Alerts: a service of Campaign for Labor Rights To receive our email labor alerts, send a message to CLR@igc.apc.org Phone: (541) 344-5410 Web site: http://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.
NOTE: Check out the latest issue of the Maquiladora Health and Safety Support Network newsletter, now available on the organization's web site: http://members.aol.com/ishmaelmd/INDEX.HTM (address is case-sensitive). This issue includes a summary of a recent study of health and safety hazards in Tijuana-area maquiladoras.
THANKS to the United Auto Workers for featuring the Han Young struggle on their web site: http://uaw.org/index.html The UAW has now requested to add themselves as a petitioner in the NAO complaint (the case being pursued through the structure established under the NAFTA labor side agreement).
THANKS to Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Local 1675 for toys and food baskets for the holidays for the families of the Han Young workers.
HAN YOUNG: MORE BETRAYALS!!! December 20, 1997
[Information provided by staff of the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers, who ask that local activists seeking updates contact Campaign for Labor Rights: (541) 344-5410, <CLR@igc.apc.org>]
According to information provided by a photographer on the scene, a group of the replacement workers (who had previously been brought in from Vera Cruz by Han Young) and other individuals not employed at the plant appeared at the Tijuana labor board yesterday, along with Han Young management, who announced that they would deal only the (government-controlled) CTM union, not with the twice-elected STIMAHCS union.
The Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers reports that the manager of Han Young called the organizer and the lawyer for the workers at 9:30 yesterday morning and told them he wanted negotiations to begin at 10 am at the labor board. A supporter of the independent union at Han Young contacted the organizer and the lawyer and warned them that there would be thugs at the labor board ready to attack them physically if they appeared. The Han Young manager and CTM or CROC (the two are functioning interchangeably right now) brought a busload of people. There were about 20 workers from Vera Cruz, plus 40-60 brought in by the CTM, claiming to the media to be Han Young workers. The company was claiming that these were 80 Han Young workers who were at the labor board to demand representation by the CROC because Han Young workers supposedly don't want STIMAHCS to be their representative. CTM filed for collective bargaining rights at Han Young.
As noted by the Support Committee, this is more confirmation of our concerns: The company definitely has not given up yet. Also, the Mexican federal government is probably orchestrating, or at least supportive of, yesterday's actions since the government played such an underhanded role in the negotiations on Tuesday. International supporters of the workers had been pressuring Zedillo to intervene as a positive force. The federal intervention on Tuesday was exactly opposite of what we had requested. The federal government stepped in on behalf of the government-controlled union. For the feds to come in supposedly as impartial mediators and then to insist on a new election when they knew that the company was openly trying to buy votes, was clearly collusion with management and CTM/CROC. Even though the feds laid a trap, it backfired on them. Against all obstacles, a majority of the workers still voted for STIMAHCS. The federal government's role on Tuesday shows that the feds are operating on behalf of management and CROC/CTM and that they need to answer for any attempts to undermine the STIMAHCS election.
The striking thing is just how blatant Han Young management and CROC/CTM are being in trying to reverse the election of STIMAHCS. One can only speculate as to the scheming behind the scenes but two possibilities leap out:
* The industry association may have struck a deal to pay off Han Young management in return for moving their operations elsewhere. Even if Hyundai Precision America is operating completely in good faith, this would still leave the workers stranded unless Hyundai absorbed them for in-company production - to do what Hyundai had been outsourcing through Han Young. Such a move would re-open the issue of union representation for these workers.
* Another possibility is that Hyundai Precison America has been operating in bad faith and that they are the power behind Han Young's actions today.
Because all of this has unfolded on a Friday, many of the people with whom consultations need to take place are not available. Growing out of discussions this coming Monday, there should be a clearer sense of which pressure points are most important at this juncture and what are the best ways to exert that pressure. Meanwhile, please respond to the action request below.
ACTION REQUEST:
Please send a fax to Han Young management. Sample:
Pablo Kang, Manager Han Young de Mexico Tijuana, Mexico Fax: 011-526-680-4481
Dear Mr. Kang:
I am outraged at the blatantly illegal behavior of your company at the offices of the Tijuana labor board on December 19, in collusion with thugs acting on behalf of government-controlled unions and falsely representing themselves as Han Young workers.
A majority of Han Young workers have twice voted to be represented by the STIMAHCS union. In your attempts to undermine two official union certification elections, you are acting as an outlaw company. No matter what clandestine deals are being made and no matter what payments are being passed in secret, you need to be aware that your actions are taking place on the open stage of international public opinion. International supporters of the rights of the Han Young workers intend to hold your company to account.
I demand that you fulfill your commitments and your legal obligations by recognizing STIMAHCS as the only representative of your employees and by bargaining in good faith with STIMAHCS. Justice for the Han Young workers! I will be watching your actions.
Sincerely,
CC: Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers (619) 295-5879
__________________________ Radio4All: http://www.radio4all.org/ The A-Infos Radio Project: http://radio4all.web.net/
****** A-Infos News Service ***** News about and of interest to anarchists
Subscribe -> email MAJORDOMO@TAO.CA with the message SUBSCRIBE A-INFOS Info -> http://www.tao.ca/ainfos/ Reproduce -> please include this section