File spoon-archives/marxism-general.archive/marxism-general_1997/marxism-general.9707, message 158


Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 11:01:02 +0200
From: Hugh Rodwell <m-14970-AT-mailbox.swipnet.se>
Subject: M-G: Labour oppression in Nicaragua -- call for support


By rights this should have been forwarded by other more Sandinista-oriented
subscribers.

It's from LabourNet at

http://www.labournet.org.uk

The situation in Nicaragua is typically semi-colonial. Having failed to
establish a workers' state, the revolution completely failed to solve even
the most modest problems of bourgeois democracy -- health, education,
labour rights etc etc. A very clear demonstration of the hopelessness of
the Two-Stage perspective on national developement (first bourgeois
democracy, then socialism). The message is clear. Without a worker-led
socialist revolution, none of the popular democratic demands of a nation
will be satisfied.

Anyhow, it wasn't the workers and people of Nicaragua who dragged
themselves back down to the present rotten situation, but their
petty-bourgeois nationalist leadership and their international Stalinist
and Social-Democrat sponsors.

Support is needed against the usual crew of union-busting companies and
their imperialist and local backers.

Cheers,

Hugh

___________________________________________



Nicaragua labor situation

Nicaraguan labor leader Pedro Ortega Mendez, secretary general of the
Textile, Clothing, Leather
and Footwear Federation- C.S.T. (Sandinista Confederation of Workers), has
sent out a call to the
international community to support the demands of Nicaraguan workers for
the right to organize
unions in the Free Trade Zones. They are asking all organizations that
support the struggle of the
workers in the free trade zones to work in solidarity; to coordinate
support actions for the
approximately 35 workers in two companies (Taiwanese & U.S) who have been
fired for union
activity; and to demand that Nicaraguan workers have the freedom to
organize unions, the right
to collective bargaining and respect for human rights.

After a protracted struggle, a union formed at Taiwanese-owned Fortex
achieved legal
recognition in Dec. 1996. The signing of the first Collective Bargaining
agreement with a foreign
company in the Zone was seen as a major worker victory.

=46ollowing this success, workers quickly sought to legalize unions in three
other factories:
Italian-owned Ecco, a shoe manufacturer; Taiwanese-owned Nien Shing, which
produces clothing
lines (Bugle Boy & No Excuse) for J.C. Penney, among others; and U.S.-owned
=46oundation Cupid,
which manufactures women's undergarments. Union leaders and other employees
who signed on
to the union were summarily dismissed at Nien Shing (a total of 28 people)
in February, and 3
union leaders were fired at Foundation Cupid in April.

Ortega charges that the Ministry of Labor has collaborated with foreign
investors to discourage
the workers' right to organize, by informing the companies of the union's
existence during the
preliminary stages of seeking legal recognition. This gives the company a
chance to fire the
unionists before the union has actual legal standing under Nicaraguan law.

Additionally, both he and the Foundation Cupid received visits on May 21
from U.S. embassy
personnel, supposedly seeking to clarify the situation. Ortega was alarmed
when the embassy
functionary stated that the 3 women unionists had threatened to dynamite
and destroy the
factory, "an absurd and stupid" charge. Their concern is that the
diplomatic personnel from the
embassy are allying themselves so directly with a U.S. company.

Ortega asks that faxes supporting the workers be sent to the following people:

The Minister of Labor:
Sr. Wilfredo Navarro: 505 228 21 03
The executive secretary of the Free Trade Zone Corporation:
Lic. Gilberto Wong, Srio. Ejecutivo, Corporacion de Zonas Francas, FAX
505-2-631700 and letters
of support to the Textile Federation, fax: 505 222 53 72 or by e-mail:
trenza-AT-tmx.com.ni

Also write to Mr. Kenneth Russo, owner of
J.C. Penney Company Inc.
PO Box 10001
Dallas TX 75301-0001

Translation:

Unionization in the [Free Trade] Zone

As a result of the events of 1993, the Textile, Clothing, Leather &
=46ootwear Federation changed
our organizing strategy, to work from the outside towards the inside. Thus,
at the beginning of
1994 we formed the clandestine workers' commissions of the Free Trade Zones
of Nicaragua.
Then we took the organizing work to the neighborhoods, carried out a stage
of clandestine union
preparation, prepared the union leaders, and founded a clandestine
newsletter called La Tijera
(the Scissors) for internal circulation in the Zone. The owners considered
it a crime to read the
newspaper, and to be found in possession of the publication was sufficient
reason to be
considered a unionist. La Tijera helped us spread our clandestine struggle.

On August 16, 1996, the workers in the Taiwanese-owned Fortex Industrial
decided to form a
union, in order to exercise their rights and say "Enough Injustice." The
documentation was
submitted to the Labor Ministry, and as always this ministry put thousands
of obstacles in the
way of legalizing the August 16 Union. More than 5 months went by, and we
appealed to regional
forums, to the regional office of the OIT, and the government of Nicaragua
was denounced
internationally for not permitting the freedom to organize in the Free
Trade Zones. Many
organizations that fight for labor rights in the maquiladoras demonstrated
their support, until
we succeeded in pressuring the government to recognize the first union in
the free trade zone on
Dec. 23, 1996.

After drawing up the list of workers' demands and presenting it to the
investors of Fortex
Industrial, the Ministry of Labor proceeded to notify this company that
there was a union. This
news was taken very badly and these gentlemen began to pressure the members
of the union. A
new stage of unionization began at this time, but it must be pointed out
that Fortex at first
refused to recognize the union, then didn't want it to be called a union
and later refused to
negotiate the workers' petition of demands. However, it finally recognized
the union and the
first Collective Bargaining contract with a foreign investor was signed.

The Free Trade Zone workers reacted quickly, and other unions were formed
in the
Taiwanese-owned company Nien Shing International, in the Italian company,
Ecco, and in the
North American company, Foundation Cupid. Three days after the union
documentation from the
Nien Shing company was submitted to the Labor Ministry, the union leaders
were fired and soon
afterward the members, thus beheading the union. The workers have
introduced a complaint
against the company in the second labor court. We are demanding that the
union leadership and
members of the union be rehired. Since Feb. 3, a total of 28 people have
been victims of labor
repression in the Nien Shing company.

The struggle of these workers has been going on for more than three months.

In the Foundation Cupid Company, three union leaders have been fired for
the same reason since
April 27.

Our conclusion is that the Labor Ministry is giving out the names from the
list of unionists to
the companies, so that the company will then fire the union leaders and
thus scare the maquila
workers. The Ministry of Labor very openly takes sides, the government's
goal being to have no
unions because of pressure from the business owners in the Free Trade
Zones, who want there to
be no unions in order to freely continue their exploitation.

Our union position is to continue struggling to gain respect for the
freedom to organize unions,
the right to collective bargaining and respect for the human and labor
rights of the workers.

URGENT ACTION

The National Federation of the Textile, Clothing, Leather and Footwear
unions of the CST
[Sandinista Workers' Confederation] is asking for international support for
the workers' struggle
in the Taiwanese company Nien Shing International and the U.S. company
=46oundation Cupid. In
both companies, the union leadership has been fired.

In the Nien Shing company, the union leaders were fired on February 3, and
the union leaders and
the fired members (14) have persisted, and the case is in the second labor
court.

In the Foundation Cupid company, located in the first private free trade
zone in Nicaragua, a
union was formed and all the leadership were fired on April 20, in
retaliation for having formed
a union. We ask all organizations that support the struggle of the workers
in the free trade
zones: to work in solidarity with our cause; to coordinate support actions
for the approximately
35 workers in the two companies (Taiwanese & U.S; to demand the freedom to
organize unions,
the right to collective bargaining and respect for human rights.

In Nicaragua, write to:
Dr. Wilfredo Navarro, Minister of Labor, FAX 505-2-282103
Lic. Gilberto Wong, Srio. Ejecutivo, Corporacion de Zonas Francas, FAX
505-2-631700

We also ask that you write to the workers and unionists who have been
fired, c/o the Federaci=DBn
Nacional de Sindicatos Textil, Vestuario, Piel y Calzado Iglesia El Carmen
1 c abajo 2 al sur
Managua, Nicaragua
Telefax 505 2 225372

Thanking you for your attention to this matter, Fraternally, Pedro Ortega
Mendez
Secretary General of the Federation of Textile, Clothing, Leather and Shoes
of the CST
(Sandinista Workers' Confederation)
Managua, Nicaragua, 21 May 1997


INTERNATIONAL DENUNCIATION!

To the International Community: From the Textile, Clothing, Leather & Footwear
=46ederation - CST of Nicaragua

Today we were informed that the Ministry of Labor canceled the legal
recognition of the union
formed in the Taiwanese company Nien Shing International in the Industrial
=46ree Trade Zone. In
so doing, they left the 27 workers fired by this company for having tried
to form a union and
achieve its legalization and registry by the Ministry of Labor unprotected
by the law. These
comrades have been in a very precarious situation for more than 3 months
since they have no
chance of finding work in any company in the Free Trade Zone.

The Ministry of Labor's decision confirms our suspicion that it was they
who gave out the list of
unionists names to the company before the union's legal papers could be
finalized and the
workers protected by the Nicaraguan law that prohibits the firing of a
union leader. The attitude
of the Ministry of Labor sets a bad precedent for the other three unions
that the Textile
=46ederation has organized in the Ecco Shoes company of Italy, Fortex
Industrial of Taiwan and
=46oundation Cupid of the United States, all maquiladoras located in the Free
Trade Zone.

We call for your support and condemnation of the government of Nicaragua.

You can send a fax to the Minister of Labor:
Sr. Wilfredo Navarro: 505 228 21 03
and letters of support to the Textile Federation, fax: 505 222 53 72 or by
e-mail:
trenza-AT-tmx.com.ni

You can also write to Mr. Kenneth Russo, owner of
J.C. Penney Company Inc.
PO Box 10001
Dallas TX 75301-0001

This company distributes clothing with the "Bugle Boy" and "No Excuse"
labels which are made in
the "Nien Shing" company in Nicaragua. We thank all the groups who have
already expressed their
support on previous occasions.

Managua 26 May 1997

TO: THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

By this means we inform you that the union of the Taiwanese-owned Nien
Shing International
company, located in the Industrial Free Trade Zone, has had its registry in
the Ministry of Labor
annulled, thus showing the interference of the Nicaraguan government in
labor matters.

At the same time, the attitude of the Nicaraguan Ministry of Labor violates
the norms and
international conventions referring to the freedom to form unions and the
right to collective
bargaining and the rules which protect unionists from being fired. The
Ministry of Labor puts
itself on the side of foreign investors and takes away the unionists' defense.

In addition, in the North American owned Cupid Foundation, three union
leaders have been fired
by the Ministry of Labor, and these workers also are without protection.

Regarding this situation, the workers of this company had turned in a
petition on May 7 to the
departmental office of the Ministry of Labor in Granada, which was accepted
on May 19 by the
delegate of the Ministry of Labor, Dr. Ada Luz Lopez Noguera, Conciliation
Attorney for the
Granada Ministry of Labor (MITRAB-Granada).

This lawyer from MITRAB-Granada, sticking to the laws of the country, had
scheduled Mr. Carlos
Sandino, general manager of this company, to come in on Wednesday May 28,
in order to begin the
negotiation of the petition (Collective Bargaining Agreement). However, the
Ministry of Labor in
Managua did not like this attitude. In an inspection set up by the Ministry
of Labor with the
company and a group of workers, these were forced to renounce their
affiliation with the union,
that is, against their real intentions. Later, another group of workers
gave their signatures of
support to the union and the negotiation of the collective bargaining
petition.

On May 21 a functionary from the United States Embassy came to the company
in order to verify
the events taking place in this company, a North American who came from
Jamaica, surely
because here in Nicaragua, labor is cheaper.

On May 21 a functionary from the United States Embassy met with me in order
to hear about the
workers' situation, and one of the arguments of this functionary left me
very worried. He said
that the group of three women unionists from this union had threatened to
dynamite and destroy
the company, something that is very absurd and stupid as well. We are
concerned that diplomatic
personnel from the U.S. are taking the side of the Yankee business.

On May 22 the Ministry of Labor in Managua resolved to disaffiliate the
women union workers,
based on the threat by the company's administration to fire them if they
didn't say they had been
forced to belong to the union. The union was thus left unprotected by the
laws of our country.

On May 23, notice was received from the Ministry of Labor that the
appointment for the
negotiation of the collective bargaining petition, scheduled for 9:30 a.m.
on May 28, had been
suspended.

This is the sad reality of our country, that labor violations are not only
committed by
businesses. We demonstrate the bias of the Ministry of Labor towards the
investors with
concrete facts and sufficient legal arguments. We show their intention to
continue permitting
exploitation and preventing unions in the companies of the Free Trade Zone.

A very curious fact is that in the next few days the Agency for
International Development of the
U.S. (AID) will donate $1,200,000 for the modernization of the ministries
of labor in Central
America and the Caribbean. The stated objective is to better ensure that
the companies don't
violate labor laws, but I believe that it is to take care of the North
American companies located
in the free trade zones and to not permit unionization.

More aid will come from the government of Spain, with the same goal of
modernizing the
ministries of labor, which will form a network for all the ministries of
labor of the Central
American and Caribbean area.

=46aced with the advance of technology, we unions will find ourselves
undefended in the offensive
that the government of Nicaragua, through the Ministry of Labor, has
unleashed against two
unions in order to discourage our struggle in the free trade zone. Our
position is to remain firm
and no one is going to force us to our knees. Much less are we going to
renounce our struggle, we
will continue in our position, and neither threats nor blackmail will force
us to retreat from our
just demands for the freedom to organize, the right to collective
bargaining, respect for our
laws, and respect for our human rights.

Note: the company of the Yankee businessman produces women's underwear,
Venchelle VDR #39506 SEARS/ Hills VDR #39503
Carlos Sandino, General Manager Cupid Foundation FAX 505-52224416

I hope to continue informing you about the situation in the free trade zones=2E

Pedro Ortega Mendez Secy. General of the Textile, Clothing, Leather and
=46ootwear Federation,
C.S.T.




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