YOUR SUPPORT IS URGENTLY NEEDED FOR THE HAN YOUNG WORKERS!
June 22, 1998
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
Local human rights and labor activists organized demonstrations in 20 cities
across the United States and 14 countries around the world on June 16, 1998,
in support of a group of workers in Tijuana, Mexico, who have been on strike
since May 22. This (Inter)National Day of Action in Support was called on
short notice after Mexican authorities issues arrest warrants on June 3 for
two leaders of the union at the Han Young factory.
Han Young is a small feeder factory, regularly employing less than a hundred
workers. It welds chassis for tractor trailers assembled at the Korean-owned
Hyundai Precision America plant, also located near Tijuana, Mexico. Labor
strife has been brewing at Han Young since June 2 of last year, when workers
staged a two-day walk-out.
The central issue in this struggle is whether Han Young management and the
Mexican government will recognize the independent union at the factory. On
three separate occasions -- October 6 and December 16 of last year and May 29
of this year -- a majority of workers has voted in favor of an independent
union in elections supervised by the Tijuana labor board. Following each
vote, workers have continued to encounter refusal to accept their union.
In the border area, as throughout Mexico, organized labor is dominated by
unions under the control of the long-ruling PRI political party. These
unions sell "protection contracts" to factory owners in exchange for
enforcing labor peace. Workers like those at Han Young who challenge this
system face violence from armed thugs, firings, threats, bribes and a host
of other dirty tricks which violate Mexico's own labor law.
In the face of such daunting odds, the Han Young workers have remained
strong and unified in their struggle. At one point, three of them even
engaged in a four-week fast to press home their demand for a democratic,
independent union. Their courage has inspired an outpouring of international
solidarity.
On June 5, a delegation went to the Mexican consulate in San Francisco to
deliver letter addressed to President Zedillo and signed by representatives
of more than 300 unions and other organizations around the world. The
workers' cause also has been championed by several members of the U.S.
Congress, including Rep. David Bonior (D-MI). On December 6, an editorial in
the New York Times editorial supported the Han Young workers' right to an
independent union and cited Mexico's failure to abide by its own labor laws
as an impediment to the expansion of free trade. This struggle is being
watched throughout Mexico's maquiladora (assembly factory for export) sector.
The chief direct link between these workers and the international human
rights community has been the San Diego-based Support Committee for
Maquiladora Workers. Its executive director, Mary Tong, said, "The outcome
of this battle will set a critical precedent in regard to the ability of
workers to organize within the maquiladora industry throughout Mexico."
The Washington, DC-based Campaign for Labor Rights has had the chief
responsibility for posting information about the Han Young struggle to a
network of activists which stretches across the country and around the
world. Its national coordinator, Trim Bissell, said, "People of conscience
everywhere are outraged at the brazenly illegal attempts by Mexican
authorities to break this union. Every promise made by NAFTA's backers is
being broken at Han Young."
The Western Hemisphere Conference (WHC) Continuations Committee is
continuing to gather signatures in support of the Open Letter to
Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo. These additional signatures will
be made public at a press conference at the Mexican Congress on
Thursday, June 25, organized by federal deputies of the PRD and the
Mexican Support Committee of the Han Young workers.
We urge you to add your name to this Open Letter [see below]. Please list
title and union or organization and advise us if these are to be listed
for identification purposes only. Send us your email endorsement message
to <theorganizer@igc.org>. We have included for your information a
partial list of the more than 1000 organizations and individuals that
have endorsed this Open Letter to date.
We also ask that you contribute to the Strike Support Fund. If you are
interested in contributing to this fund, please contact Mary Tong at
the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers <scmw@juno.com>.
Thank you for your support to this cutting-edge battle against the
"free trade" onslaught against workers' rights.
In Solidarity,
Ed Rosario and Alan Benjamin,
WHC Continuations Committee
[WHC Continuations Committee, c/o San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO),
1188 Franklin St., suite 203, San Francisco, CA 94109.
Tel. (415) 681-5868. Fax: (415) 641-8616.
email addresses: unite@igc.org or theorganizer@igc.org.]
**************************************************
PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME TO THIS OPEN LETTER TO MEXICAN
PRESIDENT ERNESTO ZEDILLO
June 20, 1998
President Ernesto Zedillo
Mexico City
Mexico
Dear President Zedillo
We are very disturbed by the extensive violations of the labor and human
rights of workers at the Han Young factory in Tijuana.
After their union, STIMAHCS, was certified by the Baja California
Conciliation and Arbitration Board, and their independent union, the
October 6 Union for Labor and Community Defense was granted its legal
registry, workers began a legal strike against their employer on May
22. Since then the labor board has conducted two elections in an effort
to end the strike, and deprive the workers' union of its right of
representation. Both elections were marked by extensive irregularities.
Afterwards, the police tore down the strike banners, reopened the doors
of the struck plant, and escorted strikebreakers inside. Arrest
warrants were issued for Enrique Hernandez, the union's organizer, and
Jose Peñaflor, its attorney.
These are all serious violations of the rights of Han Young workers.
The actions violate a Federal judge's order, Article 123 of the Mexican
Constitution, and Mexico's Federal Labor Law. They are also a violation
of the fundamental right of workers everywhere to freely choose a union
to represent them, to bargain, and to strike. That right is recognized in
international conventions, to which Mexican government has agreed.
We call on you to immediately investigate the situation in Tijuana, to
overrule the illegal actions by Tijuana's labor board, to stop the
repressive actions against the workers and their union, and to restore
their right to bargain and strike. This must be done quickly.
Your government has pursued a policy of encouraging foreign investment
in Mexico, like that made by Han Young's parent corporation, Hyundai Corp.
The rights of Mexican workers and citizens, who work for those investors,
must be protected, and Mexican law must be enforced, even if it conflicts
with the desire for profit of these companies.
Sincerely,
[PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME & TITLE/UNION/ORG.]
+++++++++++++++++++++++
(partial list of 1250 initial signatories)
Art Pulaski
Secretary-Treasurer
California Labor Federation
(AFL-CIO)
Jack Henning
Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus
California Labor Federation
(AFL-CIO)
Walter Johnson
Secretary-Treasurer
S.F. Labor Council (AFL-CIO)
Ed Rosario
Coordinator,
Western Hemisphere
Workers Conference
Continuations Committee
Brian McWilliams
International President
International Longshore and
Warehouse Union (ILWU)
San Francisco, Calif.
Bob Wages
President,
Oil, Chemical and Atomic
Workers International Union
(OCAW)
Lakewood, Colorado
Oscar Sanchez
Executive Director
Labor Council for Latin American
Advancement (LCLAA)
Washington, D.C.
Buzz Hargrove
President
Canadian Auto Workers Union
Wllowdale, Ontario
Helio Bicudo
Chairman, Human Rights
Commission of the
Organization of American
States (OAS)
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Mary Tong
Executive Director
Support Committee for
Maquiladora Workers
Agustín Rodriguez
General Secretary
National Autonomous University
Workers Union (STUNAM)
Mexico
United Labor Confederation
of Brazil (CUT)
BC Federation of Labour
Burnaby, BC
Canada
Korean Confederation of
Trade Unions (KCTU)
Seoul, Korea
Linda Foley, President,
The Newspaper Guild-CWA
Washington, D.C.
Trim Bissell
national coordinator
Campaign for Labor Rights
Korean Metal Workers'
Federations (KMWF)
Seoul, Korea
Charles Kenaghan
Executive Director
The National Labor Committee
New York, N.Y.
Dan Gallin, Chair
Global Labour Institute
Geneva, Switzerland
Centro de Derechos Humanos
Fr. Francisco de Vitoria
O.P.A.C. - Mexico
Jimmy Nolan,
Chairman,
Merseyside Port
Shop Stewards,
On Behalf of 500 Liverpool
Dock Workers,
Liverpool, England
Korean Federation of Public
and Social Services
Workers' Unions (KFPSU)
Seoul, Korea
Alicia Sepulveda
International Relations Secretary
National Telephone Workers Union
(STRM)
Mexico
Rob Hilliard
President
Manitoba Federation of Labour
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canada
Adriana Rosenzvaig
Regional Secretary
Federación Gráfica Internacional
Argentina
Karen Talbot
Coordinator,
Committee in Support of
Trade Union Rights (CISTUR)
San Francisco, Calif.
Daniel Gluckstein
National Secretary
Workers Party
France
Jose Gomes
State Deputy,
Rio Grande do Sul;
Vice-President,
RS Legislative Assembly
Brazil
Medea Benjamin
Co-director
Global Exchange
San Francisco, Calif.
Erik Leaver
Communications Director
Interhemispheric Resource Ctr
Albuquerque, NM
International Labor Rights Fund
Washington, D.C.
Luisa Maria Rivera Izabal
General Coordinator,
Comunicacion, Intercambio y
Desarrollo Humano en America
Latina (CIDAHL)
Cuernavaca, Morelos
Mexico
Mike Dolan,
Field Director
Public Citizen's
Global Trade Watch
Washington, D.C.
All Pakistan Trade
Union Federation
Lahore, Pakistan
Tafazzul Hussain
General Secretary
Bangladesh National
Workers Federation
Dacca, Bangladesh
Lynda Whittaker
Manager
UNITE!
Pacific NW District Council
San Francisco, CA
Ralph Schoenman
Past Executive Director
Bertrand Russell
Peace Foundation
Richmond, Calif.
Binda Pandey
Secretary,
DFAGEFONT-Nepal
Section 9 of the National
Teachers Union (SNTE-CNTE)
Mexico City, Mexico
Alan Benjamin
Assistant Coordinator
Western Hemisphere
Workers Conference
Rev. Douglas B. Hunt
Washington Representative
United Church of
Christ Network
for Environmental
and Economic Responsibility
Rev, Theodore A. Webb
Unitarian Universalist
Minister
Progressive Student Union
George Washington Univ.
Washington, DC
Kristina Bjurling
Chairperson,
Fair Trade Center
Stockholm, Sweden
Simy Gulzar
General Secretary
Working Women Organization
Lahore, Pakistan
Canadian branch of the
American Association of
Jurists
Robert Reid
Coordinator
Asia Pacific Workers
Solidarity Links
Wellington, New Zealand
Peter Rossman
International Union of Food &
Allied Workers Associations
(IUF)
Geneva, Switzerland
Assaf Adiv
Chairman WAC
(Independent TU Association)
Nazareth, Israel
Sarah Anderson,
Institute for Policy Studies,
Global Economy Project
Washington, D.C.
Dan La Botz
author and editor,
Mexican Labor News
and Analysis
Jim Mellor
Executive Member,
Positive Justice Centre
Project Director,
Private Prison Watch
Sydney Australia
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