26 January, 2010A campaign to discredit the Mexican miners' union has been launched in order to discourage workers from joining the union.
MEXICO: Workers at Johnson Controls in Puebla have decided to improve their working conditions and exercise their right to the freedom of association. They want to join the Mexican Miners' Union (SNTMMSRM) but leaders of the CROM trade union have begun a campaign to discredit the miners' union in an attempt to discourage workers from joining it.
Johnson Controls Servicios S. de R.L de C.V. is located in Puebla. It is owned by United States and German capital and produces car parts. It assembles car seats and seat supports. Most production goes to Volkswagen, Ford, MB, Chrysler and Nissan plants.
According to the Centro de Apoyo al Trabajador A.C. (CAT), a labour support centre, workers at this company have been fighting for more than two years and learning about human and labour rights, in order to be able to exercise their right to freedom of association. The workers have formed an organising coalition at the company (COT-JC). In 2007, some workers participated in the Comisión Revisora del Reparto de Utilidades (Profit Sharing Review Committee) and also demanded a new collective agreement but were dismissed without valid reason in June 2007. The company and the "protection union" in place have continued to harass workers since then and more workers have been dismissed.
The workforce is currently affiliated to the Confederación Regional Obrera Mexicana - CROM, a "protection union". This union has formally "represented" workers at the company for more than ten years but the workers say they have not received the support they need to improve their conditions.
Workers who want to leave CROM and join the SNTMMSRM have been the victims of intimidation at the workplace and in their communities and homes in the state of Tlaxcala, where most of the company's workers live. CROM representatives have told them, "You have the right to join whichever union you want, but beware of the consequences."
Sergio Beltrán, secretary of the miners' union, said he was taking the steps necessary for workers at Johnson Controls to join the miners' union and hoped to be able to talk to company management. He said it was important for the international union federations, including the IMF, to act as mediators and arrange a meeting with the company.
International representatives of the IMF met COT-JC workers and CAT members several times in 2008 and gave their full support to the workers' struggle to form a democratic trade union. The IMF gives its wholehearted support to COT-JC's wish to join the SNTMMSRM and will continue to monitor the situation closely.