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 19th 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 20th 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.
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