6 May, 2010The International Metalworkers' Federation denounces attacks on former workers and now organizers of workers at Johnson Controls International in Puebla, Mexico.
MEXICO: On April 28, two former workers from Johnson Controls International (JCI), Enrique Morales, who also works for the Worker Assistance Centre (CAT), and Coral Juarez, were assaulted while on their way to visit workers in the town of Santo Toribio, Tlaxcala.
The physical assault was carried out by people from the CROM union, which holds title to the protection contract at JCI where the workers are attempting to establish a representative union and a genuine collective agreement.
Morales reports that at 14:30 on April 28 a young man approached him and started twisting his hand and delivering blows to his entire body, telling him to "stop being so foolish", and threatening to kill him if he didn't stop making trouble for his father, Magdaleno Texis, who is a delegate of CROM. Morales grabbed his aggressor by the shirt while Juarez struggled with him. The aggressor then pushed her and told her that they would kill her and all of those who were against his father. After police refused to register their complaints and after a series of long delays, Morales and Juarez, assisted by CAT, were able to make their complaint to the Prosecutor's Office for the State of Tlaxcala at 23:00 that night.
This attack follows an earlier incident two weeks ago when Carmen Sanchez Juarez, a member of the JCI workers' coalition seeking a new union was harassed by Marcelino Tecuapacho in her village of San Luis Teolocholco.
Ever since workers at JCI decided to organize a genuine union they and people at CAT have been subjected to increasing harassment. This struggle for a representative union is one of the violations cited included in IMF's complaint to the International Labour Organization (Case No. 2694) against the use of protection contracts in Mexico.
The IMF denounces these recent attacks on the workers and joins with CAT and other human rights organizations in Mexico in calling on the Mexican government to:
- Take immediate action to ensure the security of Enrique Morals and Coral Juarez, relatives and close friends, as well as of the members of CAT
- Investigate the actions of CROM and prosecute illegal acts
- Ensure the fundamental human rights of the workers are respected
- Properly implement ILO Convention 87 on freedom of association and the right to organize.
For further information about the situation at JCI please see a detailed account here.