The Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras is celebrating its tenth year of tri-national grassroots resistance to corporate globalization. Martha A. Ojeda, Executive Director for the San Antonio-based organization, described CJM's work in this June 2 exclusive ISLA interview. CJM brings together more than 100 organizations: labor unions, church groups, environmental and human rights groups from U.S., Mexico and Canada. While the CJM began as an effort to bring environmental and labor rights into NAFTA, its focus has been the terrible working and living conditions of Mexico's maquiladora (sweatshop assembly plants) workers. Ojeda told ISLA that CJM's efforts are currently "geared towards supporting workers' struggles toward social, environmental and economic justice." Martha Ojeda can be reached at cjm@igc.org.
 

ISLA: Could you tell us about your experience creating an independent union in Mexico?

MO: In my hometown of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, you cannot get a job in a maquiladora if you're not affiliated to the CTM (the official Confederation of Mexican Workers). In 1994, I was working in the Sony Co. maquiladora, where we tried to democratize our CTM-affiliated union by holding elections. We acted entirely within our union's bylaws. However, the CTM committed an electoral fraud, and blocked our efforts. We had no alternative but to create an independent union. We had a walkout, and tried to have our union registered. Unfortunately the company and the government sent in police to break the strike. They beat up the workers, and several ended up in the hospital with severe injuries. The situation got so bad, I had to flee to the U.S. and try to organize a movement from here.

ISLA: Why are the official unions in Mexico incapable of backing worker's true demands? What has led to the need for creating independent unions?

MO: Originally, Mexico had the most progressive labor laws, as established in the 1917 constitution and the 1930 labor law. The CTM emerged from that, and at first they truly represented the workers. Soon, however, the CTM started working with the PRI (the Revolutiuonary Institutional Party) and established the so-called "corporativist vote." This meant that if you wanted to get a job you had to be a member of the CTM. To be a member of the CTM you are forced to vote for the PRI. CTM leaders began seeking political careers, and before you knew it, they were holding seats in the Congress, becoming governors, etc. They were in fact selling out the workers' labor rights.

ISLA: How did the CJM start ten years ago? At what point did you associate with them?

MO: The CJM was formed when about 40 organizations, most of them religious, but also labor groups and NGOs, met in Brownsville, Texas in order to organize a response to the NAFTA debate. In the early 90s, the main concern for us was around environmental issues. We began a big campaign against the Stepan corporation in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Their maquiladora was dumping all of its toxic waste on to one community. CJM produced a video documentary on this, and succeeded in drawing national attention to what was going on.

In 1994, when my case came up, CJM became more involved in labor issues. They helped me mobilize to denounce what was going on in Nuevo Laredo, and we also addressed the Side Agreements for Cooperation (Acuerdos Paralelos por Cooperación), which were brought into the NAFTA to enforce labor rights. However, the National Administrative Office (NAO) argued there were not enough elements to prove that Sony had violated their labor rights. We had ample proof of the abuses that took place, but no charges were made, since in Mexico the body attending labor rights (Junta de Conciliación y Arbritraje) is made up of the government, the corporations, and the CTM. The Junta claimed no rights had been violated, and the NAO was in no position to contradict them. What guarantees can you have if the body in charge of protecting you will not pay any attention? Now, the NAO offices of each country that signed NAFTA say they will not touch labor issues in the other country, since they are issues of "national sovereignty"! This conclusion was reached after the third Side Agreement conference, to which no labor leader was invited. I was able to attend because our organization was invited. My participation was as a member of CJM, not as a labor leader presenting a case.

ISLA: So labor rights were swept under the carpet?

MO: Yes. What this showed is that the Side Agreements are useless as guarantors of labor rights. My coworkers at Sony achieved nothing and still can't return to work.

ISLA: Organizations like CJM must face two formidable opponents: the governments and the corporations. How do you achieve success in light of such odds?

MO: I think the key to our success is combining short and long term strategies with all our member organizations. When an issue comes up, our campaign committee goes into action. We organize a telephone conference to strategize. For example, we find out what unions have contacts with the corporations in question and they begin to exert pressure. We find our what members have shares in the corporation, or request them to buy shares, so they can present resolutions supporting the workers' demands. We also send action alerts and letters to the Mexican and U.S. governments demanding that the issue be attended.

ISLA: However, the corporation could choose to ignore you. What forces a given corporation or the government to pay attention to your demands?

MO: We exert simultaneous binational pressure on both the corporation and the governments. The campaign is always based on the workers' mobilization. During the strike, workers remain outside of the maquiladora, so the owners are losing money. Workers are usually pressured to go back to work, or threatened with being fired. We send international observers, send letters to let the corporations know that the eyes of the world are watching them. All this makes the Mexican government quite nervous, since it's interested in promoting an image of democracy and justice, when in fact it is one of the biggest abusers of workers' rights.

ISLA: Can you give us an example of a successful campaign you helped organize?

MO: Yes, there's the case of a General Motors-owned maquiladora in Reynosa, Tamaulipas. The workers went on strike demanding profit sharing that in Mexico is obligatory by law. We helped organize a campaign, and within a day GM agreed to pay US $100 to each worker. 

ISLA: What kind of campaign was it?

MO: We immediately began sending letters. Also, we found that one of our member organizations the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibilityhad shares with GM, so they presented a resolution to the company requesting profit sharing for the workers. 

Another case is that of Alcoa, a company with maquilas in Piedras Negras and Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, and with offices in Pittsburgh. We were able to take several Mexican workers to the annual shareholders' meeting. We had many U.S. groups helping in this, such as the Pittsburgh Labor Action Network. They invited many groups to our demonstration, and we got quite a bit of press attention. It was because of this demonstration that the CEO had to allow the workers into the shareholders' meeting. 

During his keynote address, the CEO claimed that the assembly plants were so clean the workers could eat on the floor. A worker responded that they were not even provided with bathroom tissue or soap to wash their hands, nor did they have any protection equipment. The workers presented the CEO with a petition that outlined eight points including a salary increase and the right to organize. Although the CEO reacted with anger, saying that Alcoa's image was being damaged by their false claims, he finally agreed to look into the situation in the course of six weeks. Within the first week, the workers had soap; the second week, they were provided with security garments, the third week they were paid profits, the fourth week they had a salary increase of five dollars, which amounts to 1.5 million dollars that go directly to the community. Also, the plant's chief was dismissed because he had not reported a massive intoxication the workers denounced to the CEO in Pittsburgh.

ISLA: Do the workers now have an independent union?

MO: That was the only thing they have not been able to get. The CEO claims they do not need an independent union, since he has provided them with a 1-800 number to voice their demands. To discourage the creation of a union, the CEO sends a representative of his directly from Pittsburgh every six months to talk with the workers and solve their demands.

ISLA: Does the CJM also tackle labor issues of U.S. factories?

MO: No, we focus on the maquiladoras in Mexico, with the help of a large number of U.S. labor organizations. When I was offered the position of Executive Director in January of 1996, we began to work more directly with plants and groups based in Mexico. In October of that year, we passed a resolution that 50% of our board had to be Mexican. Our board is made up of 15 Mexicans, 13 Americans and 2 Canadians. An important member organization from Mexico is the Frente Auténtico del Trabajo, an umbrella organization for many independent unions all across the country. Another member is the Asociación de Abogados Democráticos, a group of progressive lawyers that helped us present the Sony case.

CJM not only deals with emergency situations around specific strikes; we also have several long-term projects, such as the training workshops on labor rights and health rights. These workshops are held in Mexico, and we conduct them all along the border. 

On a larger scale, we wage a continuous struggle to pressure the governments and corporations to include social justice provisions within their economic agreements. We believe that all workers, not only those in the maquilas, deserve humane and just working conditions. Workers in the U.S. shouldn't need to lose their jobs so that corporations can go exploit Mexicans. If we are to have fair trade agreements, labor and environmental rights should be equally guaranteed in all countries involved. Presently, that is definitely not the case.

CJM combines several strategies. We seek to create solidarity networks, not only through the traditional union structures, but more importantly through cross-border coalitions between NGOs and grassroots movements. For example, there's a group in Kansas called Cross-Border Network for Justice and Solidarity which works with El Centro de Trabajadores y Comunidades de Nuevo Laredo, a group that was formed originally by the women workers of Sony. There's also the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition that works with FUTURO, Frente Único de Trabajadores Para la Reivindicación Obrera in Valle Hermoso, Tamaulipas. These and other groups develop strategies of resistance across the border. 

ISLA: How can people interested in promoting justice in the maquiladoras help?

MO: Our short-term mission is to promote justice in the maquiladoras, but we ultimately work for social justice. Our efforts are geared towards supporting workers' struggles towards social, environmental and economic justice. We welcome all of those who wish to help work towards these objectives.

Interview by Antonio Prieto