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Labor Alerts: a service of Campaign for Labor RightsPosted November 1, 2002In this Alert: 1. Alcoa Workers in Mexico Demand Justice 2. The Struggle for an Independent Union 3. WEEK OF ACTIONS, November 18 to 24 4. Background <><><><><> ALCOA WORKERS IN MEXICO DEMAND JUSTICE On October 18, Workers at Plant #1 of the Alcoa Fujikura, Ltd factories in Piedras Negras, Mexico elected a new democratic union leadership slate called For Unity. This election victory happened despite the firing of 20 union supporters, including all 5 For Unity leaders and 4 out of 5 sectional committee members of plant #2 on October 4. Alcoa, Inc., is the world's largest producer of aluminum. Headquartered in New York and Pittsburgh, Alcoa has 129,000 employees in 38 countries. Former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo was recently named to Alcoa's Board of Directors, while Paul O'Neill, Alcoa's CEO from 1987 to 2000, left the company to become secretary of the treasury under George W. Bush. The Alcoa Fujikura Ltd. Division (AFL) is one of the five largest suppliers of automotive electrical distribution systems in the world. In Mexico, it manufactures wire harnesses for Ford, Volkswagen, Subaru, Harley-Davidson, and other firms. Alcoa maquiladora operations in Piedras Negras and Ciudad Acuña employ more than 17,000 production workers. <><><><><> THE STRUGGLE FOR AN INDEPENDENT UNION While these elections were for leadership positions within the current entrenched union, the CTM, Alcoa workers from both plants have openly expressed their decision to create a union independent of the CTM. A membership meeting of plant #2 voted, on April 30 of this year, to file legal recognition of a new union, and 500 workers signed the petition. The recognition of the new union has been fiercely opposed by Alcoa, the CTM, and the local labor authorities. While workers inside the two plants continue demanding independence from the CTM, the fired leaders, who demand to be reinstated, support the struggle from the outside. <><><><><> WEEK OF ACTIONS, NOVEMBER 18 TO 24 On October 25, we alerted you to this struggle and asked that you write letters to Alcoa CEO, Alain Belda. Labor Alerts subscribers, along with other activists around the world sent close to 500 letters in all. Thanks for this amazing and important response! The Alcoa workers have asked for your continued and escalated support in their fight for a democratic union, the reinstatement of fired leaders, and an end to anti-union intimidation. ** Take action from November 18 to 24 at Alcoa locations in your community. Alcoa has offices or production sites in 120 cities and towns in the U.S. If you live in one of these communities and are interested in organizing a leafleting action at Alcoa, email us: clr@clrlabor.org. We will send you materials for the action, including a leaflet, and connect you with others in your area interested in participating. ~ To find out if you live near an Alcoa location, check their website: www.alcoa.com ** If there is no Alcoa target near you, write to the company (again) in protest of their labor rights abuses. Tell the company about your support of the fight for democratic union representation at the Alcoa Fujikura plants in Peidras Negras, Mexico. Urge the company to discontinue all harassment and intimidation of workers inside and outside the plant and to reinstate all the workers fired for supporting the democratic union initiative. Also ask that the company replace Paulino Vargas and José Juan Ortiz, the general manager and human resource manager respectively, of Alcoa in Piedras Negras, who are responsible for firings and harassment of independent union supporters. ~ Write to Alain Belda, CEO, Alcoa Inc. Chairman and CEO Alcoa, Inc., 201 Isabella Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15212. Fax:412-553-4498, Email: alain.belda@alcoa.com. <><><><><> BACKGROUND Workers began organizing for independent unions in both Alcoa Fujikura plants 1 AND 2 in January 2002 to protest a wage agreement negotiated by the management-supporter CTM union leadership representing them at the time. The wage agreement was never ratified by the membership and resulted in givebacks of important contractual gains, including customary seniority-based wage increases. When, on February 22, workers from Plant #2 elected a new union leadership, the former leadership, run by Leocadio Hernandez (head of the CTM in the area), reportedly violently attacked two women workers outside the meeting area. Two days later, the workers loyal to Hernandez entered the factory and attacked union supporters during work hours. They then announced, with the support of management, that in plant number 1, six workers had been *fired* from the CTM union (and, thus, the company) due to suspicion that they sympathized with the democratic union movement. Despite the violent repression, a second vote was held that confirmed the ousting of former CTM leadership on March 4. The next seven months passed with continued anti-democratic union movement activities including harassment, Alcoa sending private security guards to videotape activists in meetings held off company property, and massive *therapy* sessions against the democratic movement inside the plants. However, the new leadership, in a show of its diplomacy and strength, was able to negotiate a Mother?s Day celebration on factory property with some gifts contributed by the company. The new leadership also won a campaign promise and succeeded in negotiating the reduction of union dues withheld from paychecks. The Alcoa workers have had support from the Comité Fronterizo de Obrer@s (CFO), an organization that works in six cities along the Mexico-U.S. border to promote union democracy and workers' rights. <><><><><> In Solidarity, Daisy Pitkin Campaign Coordinator Campaign for Labor Rights www.campaignforlaborrights.org 202-232-5002 This web site designed and maintained byDaniel Hunter |
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