February 15, 2013

In this issue:
>> Join the days of action for trade union rights in Mexico
>> Let PKC workers choose their own union
>> Cambodian H&M and Walmart workers out on the streets

Global protest for trade union rights in Mexico

Democratic trade unions and the workers they represent in Mexico continually struggle to exercise their rights. They are persecuted, arrested, and criminalized when they protest and mobilize against attacks from companies and federal and local authorities. Further, workers continue to be systematically excluded from any genuine process of collective bargaining.

From February 18 to 24, 2013, activists from around the world will gather at Mexican embassies and consulates around the globe to protest systematic attacks on trade union rights in Mexico.

Let PKC workers choose their own union

PKC is an auto-parts manufacturer based in Finland, with factories in ten other countries. In Mexico, workers at PKC's factory have been trying to affiliate to “Los Mineros,” an independent, democratic trade union. But last year, the workers were informed by their employer that the company had instead signed a collective bargaining agreement with the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), without the workers’ prior knowledge or consent. According to a message delivered to workers by PKC’s President of North American Operations, the arrangement is ideal because “the company will pay so that the CTM does not even enter the plant and won't have anything to do with you.”

In December, more than 100 of the workers who supported “Los Mineros” in a rigged union representation election were fired.

IndustriALL, the global union federation representing 50 million workers in 140 countries, has launched a campaign in support of the PKC workers.

>> You can join the campaign by sending a message to PKC today
>>Read more about the struggle in Mexico here
>>Watch a short video in which the PKC workers in Mexico talk about their struggle

Cambodian H&M and Walmart workers out on the streets

Workers at a Cambodian underwear factory supplying H&M and Walmart are keeping a 24-hour vigil outside their factory after managers closed up shop and fled, owing them hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid wages and benefits. After the Kingsland factory abruptly closed in December, many of the workers were evicted from their homes because they could not pay their rent.

Both H&M and Walmart are denying responsibility for the unionized workers who worked for years making products for their stores.