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9 April, 2007
In Mexico, the urgent necessity to confront the hijacking of trade unionism was given priority by global trade unions recently. The ICEM was one of seven Global Union Federations that signed on to an ITUC/ORIT declaration calling for an end to “employer protection contracts,” or simply, yellow unionism.
At a 3 April conference in Mexico, the GUFs, national and other global unions, and NGOs joined with ITUC/ORIT, calling on Mexico to halt the practice of company-dominated unions, where workers are victimised, ORIT says, by a “triple sham: pseudo-unions, pseudo labour relations, and pseudo labour authority.”
The campaign, themed “For Liberty, Autonomy and Union Democracy,” kicked off with testimony from workers’ representatives from six sectors. Some workers wore hoods to prevent reprisals, including one from the big US retailer, WalMart.
The hijacking of honest trade unionism comes in the form of employer protection contracts, which are invariably signed by a manager or owner of an enterprise, and a pre-selected trade union operative. Workers have no say in terms or conditions, and government labour commissions are powerless, since the “sham” labour contracts negotiated between owners and “ghost” labour unions are binding.
ITUC/ORIT, and the global unions and other affiliates, will press “Liberty, Autonomy, Union Democracy” inside Mexico, and before international governing bodies, including the UN Commission and the International Court of Human Rights, and at the ILO.