><http://damn.tao.ca/news/damn00476.html>http://damn.tao.ca/news/damn00476= >.html > Tijuana, Mexico: > Enrique Hernandez Felix, General Secretary of the 6th of October Union of Workers >in Industry & Commerce (the union representing the Han Young workers) and Jose Angel >Penaflor, the lawyer for the union, were arrested this morning. This is part of an >ongoing pattern of repression and violations of human rights and Mexican labor law >by officials of the Mexican government. > Background Information: > Located in Tijuana, Mexico, the Han Young factory welds chassis for nearby Hyundai >operations, where the chassis are assembled into tractor trailers ("semi's"). Since >June of 1997, workers at Han Young have been struggling to win representation for an >independent union and to get management to bargain a new contract. > Core issues are substandard wages (many skilled welders receive the equivalent of >only $4 US / $5.70 a day Canadian for a 10- to 11-hour shift) and life-threatening >health and safety issues (totally inadequate safety equipment, lack of ventilation >for toxic gases, having to stand in puddles of water while using high voltage >equipment with frayed cables, decrepit cranes which drop their loads without warning >or swing wildly out of control). > A clear majority of the workers has voted three times to be represented by an >independent union. The workers have stood firm in the face of armed thugs, bribes, >firings, disinformation campaigns and a host of illegal actions by management and >government officials in Mexico. > The workers won certification of their union in January after a 26-day hunger >strike, but management has refused to negotiate a contract with the independent >October 6 union. > Since May 22 of this year, when the previous contract expired, virtually the entire >regular workforce at Han Young has been on strike. Throughout this struggle, >international pressure has remained strong. > The two essential elements of international solidarity are: > political pressure on the Mexican federal government to enforce its own labor law >and economic pressure on Hyundai to use its considerable leverage with Han Young, >which produces only for Hyundai. > This is the DAMN News Email list > http://damn.tao.ca > To unsubscribe, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Asking to: unsubscribe damn > > ***DAMN DISCLAIMER - IMPORTANT PLEASE NOTE*** > > DAMN receives many unsolicited reports and tries but can not verify >all information contained within. DAMN therefore disclaims >responsibility for the information in this message and urges >you to contact the reporter personally for further verification. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com end ============== Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html The Year 2000 Bug - An Urgent Sustainability Issue http://www.peg.apc.org/~psutton/grin-y2k.htm Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
