File spoon-archives/aut-op-sy.archive/aut-op-sy_1997/aut-op-sy.9708, message 90


Date: Fri, 15 Aug 1997 12:32:40 -0700 (PDT)
From: robin alexander <ueintl-AT-igc.apc.org>
Subject: AUT: Discharges at Han Young; protest letters requested






This alert was received from Labor Alerts/Labor News
a service of Campaign for Labor Rights
1247 "E" Street SE, Washington, DC 20003
clr-AT-igc.apc.org   (541) 344-5410   http://www.compugraph.com/clr

A letter sent today by Robert B. Kingsley, UE Director of Organization has been added at the end
of this alert. 

************************************
See ACTION COMPONENT at end of alert.
************************************

[This alert is based on information provided by the Support Committee for
Maquiladora Workers, based in San Diego.  For more information, contact SCMW
at (619) 542-0826.  This alert drew heavily from an article written by Mary
Tong of SCMW and appearing in the July/August 1997 issue of Working Together
newsletter.  For information on subscribing to Working Together, call the
Resource Center of the Americas at (612) 627-9445.]

UNION LEADERS FIRED IN DECISIVE STRUGGLE
faxes urgently needed!!!

Thursday, August 14.  Tijuana, Mexico -- Management of the Han Young factory
(which produces chassis and platforms for Hyundai tractor trailers) have
fired 3 leaders of a union seeking official recognition.  Workers continue
their organizing activities and protests.  They call for international
solidarity.  This struggle is being watched by both labor and management
throughout the Mexican maquiladora [export factory] sector.  A victory for
workers would set an important precedent.

BACKGROUND:

Some 120 workers at the Han Young factory began a work stoppage on June 2.
The immediate issue was Han Young's failure to pay profit-sharing, as
required by the Mexican constitution.  Companies are supposed to distribute
10 percent of annual profits to workers each May.  In the maquila industry,
however, profit-sharing is not paid because companies report their
maquiladora operations to the Mexican government as cost centers without
profits.  Instead, companies generally pay a bonus in May that they call
"profit-sharing."  Each day, Han Young workers produce 26 chassis selling
for $1800 each.  This year's bonus ranged from $6.87 to $31.85 er worker,
depending on seniority.  Workers consider this pittance a slap in the face.

Also, workers have health and saafety concerns: no protective equipment for
welders, no functioning ventilation system and no worker-management health
and safety commission as required under Mexican labor law.  Workers want a
30 percent wage increase, (currently, they receive $33 to $46 for a 48-hour
week.), a wage schedule based on seniority, food service in the plant and
the hiring of a plant doctor.

Perhaps more important of all: The workers want a union of their own
choosing.  This last point is a direct challenge to the "protection
contract" system prevalent in Tijuana's 1,000 maquilas.  Han Young, like 80
percent of the maquilas in the Tijuana area, pays a government-connected
"union" known as CROM.  Workers have no say in any of the policies of this
phony union and cannot elect its leadership.  Workers know of the union's
existence only because the "union representative" comes to the factory every
two weeks to pick up his check from the manager.

The Han Young factory produces exclusively for Hyundai.  Under Mexican law,
in such a situation, Hyundai is responsible for the labor practices of its
contractor (if indeed Han Young truly is a contractor and not a complete
subsidiary of Hyundai).  When concerns about labor practices at Han Young
have surfaced, Hyundai has sought to distance itself from its contractor.
The Tijuana operations of Hyundai are an offshoot of Hyundai Precision
America, headquartered in San Diego, just over the border.

The Han Young workers have not been without support.  Locally, the
politically savvy and well-organized community of Maclovio Rojas has stood
with the workers, many of whom come from the community, when there have been
disputes at the factory.  Solidarity for the workers has not been without a
price.  Last year, immediately following a show of community support for
workers involved in a dispute with management, the leaders of the settlement
were thrown in jail on bogus charges.  It took a march across the desert in
deadly heat (one participant died during the protest) to convince the
government to release the leaders.

International solidarity also has been crucial, both for the workers and the
community.  The San Diego-based Support Committee for Maquiladora workers
has helped to prevent the crushing of these labor and community struggles by
exploitative Hyundai management and corrupt Mexican government officials.
At crucial points, the SCMW has organized delegations with U.S. labor
leaders and with members of the U.S. Congress.

Another player is a loose coalition of community and labor groups in Eugene,
Oregon -- where citizens have been struggling against environmental
destruction and tax giveaways in excess of $100 million in a deal struck
(without public input) between city power brokers and the Hyundai
electronics division, which is building a computer chip factory at an
eventual cost of more than $1 billion.  Hyundai in Eugene has big money at
stake in trying to polish its image.  Toward that end, the Eugene branch has
hired a high-powered PR firm.  Eugene activists hope to pursuade local
Hyundai officials that they might gain some points by pressuring the parent
company to do right by its Tijuana workers.  So far, Hyundai officials in
Eugene decline to acknowledge that they might play a useful role in the
Tijuana situation.

THE JUNE 2 WORK STOPPAGE:

The June 2 work stoppage caught both management and CROM unprepared.  The
company immediately called in the police.  When police officials arrived,
they found 9 international observers ready with to record any
management/police misconduct on video camera.  The Han Young workers had
taken the precaution of coordinating their work stoppage with the SCMW,
which arranged for the international presence.  The observers asked police
for their badge numbers.  Police decided to leave.

Han Young management then called the CROM representative, who tried to
co-opt the situation by telling workers that he was taking charge of
negotiations with management.  The strikers replied that he did not
represent them and should leave.

Meanwhile, letters and faxes in support of the workers poured into Han Young
and Hyundai offices.  This effort, too, was arranged ahead of time by the
SCMW in coordination with the workers.

The next day, Han Young's general manager and lawyer sat down with nine
representatives of the workers, their attorney and representatives of the
SCMW.  The company agreed to recognize the elected representatives and not
to interfere with the formation of their own union.  they also agreed not to
retaliate in any way against workers for the stoppage and made agreements
regarding each of the other demands.

The company's attorney even stated that the strike was the company's fault,
for refusing to communicate with workers and stated that the general manager
did not keep promises.  The company attorney advocated that workers be paid
for the strike days and not lose their attendance bonus for the week!  The
strikers returned to work the following day.

BETRAYAL:

Although the company initially made motions of complying with some of the
agreements on safety and the bonus, this apparently was to provide cover
while management prepared a counterattack.  The company hired a full-time
"psychological warfare" expert -- a term used by Mexican labor activists and
translating as "a union-busting consultant."  Retaliation followed in quick
order.  On August 6, Emetario Armenta, one of the leading organizers, was
fired by the company as a "trouble maker."  Armenta was offered a
substantial bribe to discontinue his union activities and not to file
charges against the company.  Armenta refused the offer.

Two other members of the elected executive committee of the union (for a
total of 3 out of 13) also were fired.  They, too, were offered "severance
packages" similar to Armenta's.  Should they not accept the offer, they will
be fired without compensation.  The workers were told that the reason for
their termination was their involvement in union organizing activities.

A company representative also offered $15,000 to a paralegal in the lawfirm
working to gain official recognition for the union -- on condition that the
firm stop the proceedings.

THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES:

The two union leaders fired on the 13th were scheduled to file charges today
with Conciliation and Arbitration because it is illegal to fire a worker for
union organizing activity.   Armenta already filed with Conciliation and
Arbitration last week.

The additional two firings occurred late on August 13.  Many workers on that
shift were unaware of the action.  Union leaders organized a one-day work
stoppage in protest, scheduled for the 14th.  (Technically, workers in
Mexico can't strike without government permission.  However, workers are
allowed 3 absences per month.  Workers can organize a stoppage under the
framework of the allowed absences.)

This morning (August 14), a union representative stood on the public
sidewalk in front of the factory informing fellow workers of the stoppage as
they showed up at Han Young.  A Han Young management person, Young Lee,
attacked the worker, grabbing him by the shirt and pushing him around.
Mexican law forbids management from touching or otherwise attacking a
worker.  Criminal charges were fired later today.  Lawyers for the union
also will ask, on the basis that this is a criminal action, that the manager
not be allowed to leave the country for Korea in order to avoid prosecution.

The Support Committee for Maquiladora workers, which demonstrated in support
of the Han Young workers last week, organized another demonstration today
outside the San Diego headquarters of Hyundai Precision America.  The SCMW
is calling for an international show of support for the rights of the workers.

THE STAKES:

This is viewed as a key struggle in Mexico.  If the union succeeds, it will
be the very first independent true union in the entire Mexican maquiladora
sector.  Such a precedent could have enormous implications throughout the
border region, where workers receive meager wages producing goods strictly
for export, mostly to the United States. ["Unions" set up by companies
technically are classified as "independent" by Mexico.  Workers do not
consider these to be true unions.]

A victory at Han Young could inspire organizing and resistance throughout
much of the Mexican maquiladora sector.  Workers understand this.  So does
the Mexican power structure.  In fact, it was the Reconciliation and
Arbitration bureau which referred the "psychological warfare" expert to Han
Young.

Assisting the Han Young union in its bid for official recongition is the
Authentic Workers Front (FAT), the primary challenger to Mexico's ruling
party-controlled union, the CROM.  Specifically, the STIMAHCS section of the
FAT is working with the Han Young union.  A FAT/STIMAHCS victory at Han
Young would be a major blow to the authority of the CROM.

**************************************
REQUESTED ACTIONS:

Please fax letters to:

Ted Chung, President, Hyundai Precision America, 1-619-293-7264.

Won Young Kang, General Manager, Han Young de Mexico, 011-526-680-4481.

Antonio Ortiz, Presidente, Junta de Conciliation y Arbitraje [Labor Board],
011-526-686-3300.  If no answer, call 011-526-686-3214 and say that you want
to send a fax.

Letters may be in English.

Talking points:

*   Respect the Han Young workers' right to engage in lawful union
organizing activities.
*   Respect the workers' right to have the union of their choosing
officially recognized.
*   Hyundai is accountable for the actions of its contractor, Han Young.
*   Injustice against the Han Young workers damages the reputation of all
Hyundai operations.
*   Failure to respect the rights of Han Young workers will bring discredit
to NAFTA when future trade agreements come up for negotiation.

Contact the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers for more information:
(619) 542-0826.
**************************************

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Street SE, Washington, DC 20003.  For a sample copy, send your postal
address to clr-AT-igc.apc.org.
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                              August 15, 1997

Ted Chung, President
Hyundai Precision America

VIA FAX: 619-293-7264

                    
     I am writing to you on behalf of the officers and 35,000 members of the United Electrical,
Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), to express our outrage at the recent discharges of
union leaders at your Han Young plant in Tijuana, Mexico.

     We have been informed that the company has hired  a union-busting consultant and that
on August 6, Emetario Armenta, one of the leading organizers, was fired by the company as a
"trouble maker."  Armenta was offered a substantial bribe to discontinue his union activities and
not to file charges against the company.  Armenta refused the offer.

     Two other members of the elected executive committee of the union were offered
"severance packages" similar to Armenta's.  Should they not accept the offer, they will be fired
without compensation.  The workers were told that the reason for their termination was their
involvement in union organizing activities.  We have also been informed that a company
representative offered $15,000 to a paralegal in the law firm working to gain official recognition
for the union -- on condition that the firm stop the proceedings.

     These actions violate both Mexican and international law and damage the reputation of all
Hyundai operations. Hyundai is accountable for the actions of its contractor, Han Young. We ask
that you investigate this situation and take immediate steps to ensure that the workers are
reinstated, and that the rights of  Han Young workers' to engage in lawful union
organizing activities and to select the union of their choice are respected. 

                                 
                              Sincerely,


                              Robert B. Kingsley
                              Director of Organization
                         

     cc:  Won Young Kang, General Manager, Han Young de Mexico   011-526-680-4481.
          Antonio Ortiz, Presidente, Junta de Conciliation y Arbitraje   011-526-686-3300
     011-526-686-3214.


Robin Alexander
UE Director of International Labor Affairs
One Gateway Center, Suite 1400
420 Fort Duquesne Blvd.
PGH., PA. 15222-1416

412-471-8919
412-471-8999 FAX
HTTP://www.igc.apc.org/unitedelect/ (See alert section every two weeks for
labor and related news from Mexico).




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