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Support of Workers in the Maquiladoras
*Resolution in Support of Workers in the Maquiladora Factories in Mexico
Fighting to Build Independent Trade Unions*
[*The following resolution was adopted unanimously by the July 8, 2019,
Delegates Assembly of the San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO).*]
Whereas, the San Francisco Labor Council is on record in support of the
right of the workers in Mexico to form the independent trade unions of
their choice, a right affirmed recently by the new Mexican government under
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) with the adoption of ILO
Convention No. 89; and
Whereas, in Mexico — under the NAFTA "free trade" agreement signed in 1994
by the United States, Canada and Mexico — the 1,500-plus maquiladoras
(export-oriented sweatshops) along the U.S. border corridor have been used
to outsource jobs from the United States to near-slave-labor wages and
working conditions; and
Whereas, more than 40,000 workers in the maquiladoras of Matamoros,
Tamaulipas (across from Brownsville, Texas) — taking advantage of the
election of AMLO and his pledge to raise wages along the maquiladora border
corridor by 20% — went out on strike in mid-January 2019 to demand a 20%
wage increase and the promised 32,000 pesos [US$1,600] end-of-year bonuses,
thereby creating the Movimiento 20/32; and
Whereas, dozens of workers in Matamoros have since been fired for their
activism in this movement; and
Whereas, on June 27, 2019, strike organizer and attorney Susana Prieto
Terrazas traveled to Mexico City, where she obtained the legal registration
of the new independent union formed out of the strike — the Sindicato
Nacional Independiente de Industrias y de Servicios Movimiento 20/32, or
National Independent Union of Industries and Services, 20/32 Movement —
which represents a historic victory for workers in the maquiladora
industry; and
Whereas, unionists in other border cities in Mexico have joined the effort
to build local affiliates of the new independent union in their cities,
most notably at the Rockwell Automation maquiladora in Tecate, Baja
California; and
Whereas, four workers — including Gladys Lira from Tecate — were fired for
organizing for better wages and working conditions at the Rockwell
Automation plant in Tecate, and for organizing to build an affiliate of the
new independent union in their city, and, finally;
Whereas, Susana Prieto Terrazas and Gladys Lira will be speaking on a panel
in San Francisco on Saturday, July 13, 2019, at 1 pm (at the hall of ILWU
Local 34 (801 - 2nd St. (next to the Giants' Ballpark), to present a
“First-Hand Report on the Historic Massive Strike Wave in the Maquiladoras
of Northern Mexico.”
Therefore be it resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council supports the
effort of the maquiladora workers along the Mexico-U.S. border to form the
trade unions of their choice, in particular the newly formed National
Independent Union of Industries and Services, 20/32 Movement; and
Be it further resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council supports the
fight for the reinstatement of all workers fired for their participation in
the strike movement and in the effort to improve wages and working
conditions in their plants; and
Therefore be it finally resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council will
publicize the panel discussion with Susana Prieto Terrazas and Gladys Lira
on Saturday, July 13 in San Francisco.
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*The resolution was submitted by Alan Benjamin (OPEIU Local 29), Olga
Miranda (SEIU Local 87), Conny Ford (OPEIU 29), and Mike Casey (HERE Local
2).*
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