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Given how important it is that the NAALC process focus on the larger issues that were raised in Public Communication #2003-01 (Puebla), a summary outlining the fundamental violations described by those who testified in both Washington and Toronto was presented to the Canadian NAO. According to this summary, the five central components of the Complaint, as illustrated by the testimony provided on May 28 in Toronto, are:
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 gathered at Mexican embassies and consulates around the globe to protest systematic attacks on trade union rights in Mexico.
Reforms to Mexico’s Federal Labour Law weaken workers’ seniority rights and allow employers to pay workers by the hour rather than by the day, which is the current requirement. They would also remove restrictions on labour outsourcing, including subcontracting, and the use of third-party employment agencies.
The Mexican National Miners’ Union (Los Mineros) is challenging the results of a union representation election at the Finnish-owned PKC auto parts factory in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico. According to the official count, Los Mineros narrowly lost the vote – 2,311 to 2,509 – to a “protection union” affiliated with the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM) that was supported by the employer.
Faced with ongoing harassment, physical assaults and death threats, MSN's long-time friends and allies at the Worker Support Centre (CAT) in Puebla, Mexico have been forced to close their office and suspend their support work with the state's maquiladora workers.
A month ago we asked you to appeal to the Mexican authorities to protect the lives of members of the Worker Support Centre (CAT - Centro de Apoyo al Trabajador, a leading Mexican worker rights group) following the May 15 kidnapping and torture of one of its members, José Enrique Morales Montaño - the latest in a string of violent attacks against the organization. As a result of this campaign of violence against their members, the CAT has now been forced to close its office in Puebla. We are asking you to once again urge the Mexican government to take further action in response to this development.
On May 15 at approximately 1:00 pm, four masked men in a van kidnapped worker rights defender José Enrique Morales Montaño, a member of the Worker Support Centre (CAT) in Puebla, Mexico. Morales was abducted as he was on his way to a hearing of at the Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board where the CAT was defending the rights of a group of garment workers.
On January 30, 8,000 workers at the Arneses y Accesorios de México auto parts factory in Cuidad Acuña were informed by their employer that the company had signed a collective bargaining agreement with the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), without their prior knowledge or consent.
A brief digest of trends and statistics affecting the Mexican apparel industry
A brief digest of trends and statistics affecting the Mexican apparel industry
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