Anyone else out there interested in this matter? Prudy
Labor Alerts: a service of Campaign for Labor Rights To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web site: www.summersault.com/~agj/clr Phone: (541) 344-5410 Fax: (541) 431-0523 Membership/newsletter: Send $35.00 to Campaign for Labor Rights, 1247 "E" Street SE, Washington, DC 20003. Sample newsletter available on request. UNIONISTS ARRESTED IN TIJUANA! posted December 17, 1998 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. We hope to be able to post more information - as well as an action request - soon, when we can consult further with the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers. Meanwhile, local activists are urged to continue their leafleting activities at Hyundai Motors dealerships. (Han Young produces chassis for another division of Hyundai, which assembles tractor trailers.) 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.
