Message From Vancouver

The relationship between Mexican unions and the companies that operate in our country, be they funded by Mexican or foreign capital, has been long and complicated.  Ever since the dawn of Mexican industrialism in the 19^th century there has been a relationship between workers and businesspeople which, like everywhere around the world, has always been difficult and even conflictive. Whether the role of employer has been played by men from private companies or by the State itself, this relationship is a natural reflection of the universal class struggle, which has always been implacable.

Over the course of the 20^th century, however, in this historic conflict between social classes the country had a philosophy of labour which, despite its many insufficiencies, ensured that this relationship worked within constructive boundaries so that through it economic and social development in Mexico could grow and benefit the great majority of workers as well as companies. The key was in the generous and modern vision of the Constituent Congress of 1917, which sprang from a desire to revise and rebel against the horrors and repressions of Porfirio Díaz’s dictatorial regime.

In the midst of the inevitable clash of interests during the last century, employers and workers achieved a coexistence which went through various stages, some of understanding and others of confrontation. The pinnacle of this relationship came in 1945 with the now-distant Pacto Obrero-Industrial, an agreement between workers and industry which proposed to make the most of the advantages that the Second World War offered to Mexican economic activity. The country used this to deliberately evade irreconcilable conflict between factors involved in production and to facilitate their mutual understanding so as to move forwards towards the great objective of national progress.

At the same time, workers had built a powerful system of unions, inspired by the 1917 Constitution itself, which checked the irrational exploitation of the workforce and established the foundations of constructive coexistence. However, as the years went by private interests gained ground on social interests. The expansion of industrial activity did not generate a spirit of respect on the part of employers for their workers and for the people, and many companies were dedicated to ensuring that their own interests prevailed. The results were already visible in the 1960s: ours was a process of development with poverty.

In subsequent years this unjust situation got worse. The interests of the business sector wormed their way into government ranks until we arrived at the current situation, in which it is impossible to tell if the people governing the country bear any resemblance to the representatives we elect every six years, or if certain powerful businesspeople simply control public authorities using pressure or economic blackmail. Many unions, as well as many politicians, have softened under this pressure and lost their way or betrayed their roots, becoming structures that are empty of all workerism. Others of us maintained our dignified presence and our autonomy in the face of private and state power. That is why I have invariably shown in articles, speeches, press releases and different forums that it is necessary to establish a new model of development in Mexico, one that rewrites the current terms of scandalous partiality in favour of the business sector.

We have recently had an experience which shows that, even in the greatest adversity, there are ways to advance and to open up new opportunities for workers. The great majority of companies which make up the mining, metalwork and steelwork sector in Mexico came to Vancouver, Canada, in November 2012 to revise their relationships with the National Miners’ Union, at the suggestion of this organisation. At this meeting we saw the promising perspective that even today, with the forces of the so-called free market running rampant the world over, crushing social justice, it is possible to develop bonds of respect and true constructive collaboration between workers and employers in Mexico, to create jobs and to boost productivity and efficiency in the sector. And this happens despite the fact that for more than six years the Miners’ Union has been subjected to one of the most perverse political, judicial and occupational persecutions that has ever been seen by inept conservative governments of the National Action Party, which fortunately has not been re-elected, aided by a few businessmen who are determined to make unionism disappear.

In Vancouver we defined a more positive direction and destination for worker-employer relations in Mexico today. In the inevitable conjunction of workers and companies, neither side can get rid of the other because they are mutually dependent, and as such the realistic approach is to understand one another with complete mutual respect. This respect must above all be extended towards workers, who have suffered most in the period under the so-called neoliberal model which manifests as an irrational exploitation of the workforce and the extreme concentration of wealth in a few hands.

The spirit of Vancouver is transcendental and was expressed in a document published in La Jornada on Tuesday 13 November 2012, which should be applied to all worker-employer relations in Mexico. This document stated, in short, that through rational delimitation of spheres of action and respectful mutual collaboration, it is possible to develop a bond for the progress that the country needs. The businesspeople, the men and women who attended, with their presence and their analysis and critical participation in this meeting, expressed their decision to take that path. This is the only way that we can overcome the economic crisis that currently afflicts the world.

The Truth About Union Transparency

Obama’s victory spurs democracy on

The National Miners’ Union is a long-standing organisation in the Mexican workers’ movement, and since its founding 78 years ago it has developed a politics characterised by its genuine devotion to union autonomy. Faced with the changing circumstances of life in Mexico, the miners’ union, founded in the city of Pachuca in 1934, maintained and developed the different values and principles of independent and democratic unionism.

Autonomy is not a simple abstract concept, it is an active reality. It means freedom of association for unions, the defence of collective labour contracts, the right to strike, autonomous management of union internal elections for the selection of leaders and those people who represent the union in the various branches of its influence, the responsible and autonomous use of the  economic resources that affiliated workers give to the union organisation to support its fight and for administrative, legal and political functions, as well as complete transparency in the management of those resources. This transparency is demonstrated every day but the organisation demonstrates particular accountability every two years when workers meet at the biannual general meeting.

Felipe Calderón’s labour reform proposal, with its obvious intention to benefit employers, will be a political mistake for the immediate future, one that contains a special chapter about transparency and accountability for all Mexican unions. On this topic, Calderón and the PAN (Nation Action Party)’s proposal is a trap into which all ministers and senators have fallen because they fail to understand that with it this government is set on showing itself as a defender of democracy and union transparency. Nothing could be more false.

A significant piece of information for the Miners’ Union is that, although since its beginning the union has always practiced accountability and transparency, Calderón has pursued it to an extent never seen before. This reveals that his declared support of union democracy is underpinned by a total lack of consistency and plenty of doublespeak. The union statutes clearly establish that the only people whose responsibility it is to understand these issues are the member workers themselves, and it is by no means the business of third parties, be they civil servants, politicians, government or companies, because mine workers are neither naïve nor are they new to political or social life. Calderón and the PAN specifically mean to break the principle of union autonomy in this part of their proposal. And it is precisely this principle that certain Leftist and PAN legislators support, although they fail to appreciate that PAN as well as PRI members of congress have, with 80 percent support in the chambers, approved one of the most harmful reforms ever to affect Mexican workers.

If we definitively accept Calderón’s labour reform proposals, together with the attack on union autonomy, Calderón and the PAN would gain a victory that is underserved and unethical. They are asking unions to be obediently accountable to them and to what they call society, but at no point have they asked companies or government to be similarly accountable or practice this transparency in everything they do, so that the country also is kept informed about their business.

Their hypocrisy hides the deceptive nature of this proposed reform. According to its authors, only workers’ organisations, between which no distinctions are drawn,  operate outside the law. On the other hand, the unions’ accusers and pursuers from antisocial companies and the conservative government show off how morally perfect they are and how their actions are always inscribed in absolute legality. They claim that they consequently have no need to expose themselves to external public scrutiny because the practices of corruption and impunity that they employ are simply to be applauded rather than punished. We should not presume that there are laws and budgetary authorities that govern this kind of accountability, because it has always been evident that the most powerful companies are the ones who evade their legal and budgetary responsibilities to the greatest degree, on top of their paying reduced rates of tax to the treasury. Even governments let them off their multimillion dollar debts and give them tax rebates every year. Where in Calderón’s proposal is there even the slightest attempt to level the playing field between company bosses and unions?

Right-wing governments, unscrupulous politicians and some company bosses have been acting for decades like the defenders of big capital and the ruthless pursuers of all those of us who have been upstanding in our opposition of this unfair politics, in both union and social spheres. Now that Calderón is fortunately on his way out of presidential office, the time has come to intensify his attack. They want labour reform accompanied by a union counter-reform that puts legitimate workers’ organisations, and the people who work on behalf of them and their families, into the same category as organisations whose corruption meant they ceased to be authentic unions defending the rights of their members decades ago.

Legislators are not even aware of this, and they are joining the employers’ attempt to nullify all unions. But the Right knows what it is doing: establishing a huge concentration camp to irrationally exploit Mexican workers, without a trace of any organisation that might defend them.