TITLE: Duro Workers Intercept Fox's Tour in Reynosa

AUTHOR: Fired Duro Workers

PUB:

DATE: January12, 2000

"Yarrington, do you remember us? We are the Duro workers who are still struggling for our rights." These were the words that Consuelo Moreno spoke to the President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, in front of the Governor of Tamaulipas, Thomas Yarrington, when a delegation of workers from Duro intercepted the President on his tour of the border. Duro is a maquiladora located in the city of Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas that assembles gift bags for various corporations, Hallmark Expressions among them. Duro's main office is in Ludlow, Kentucky.I In the month of December while everyone was getting ready for the holidays, the Duro workers found out that President Fox was going to make a trip to the border. They went to Reynosa, Tamaulipas where President Fox heard their petitions. The workers gave him a letter informing him of their struggle. Fox told them that he was going to see them in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Later they gave him the letter in Matamoros, in front of the Governor of Tamaulipas, Tomas Yarrington. Consuelo Moreno told him, "Yarrington, do you remember us? We are the Duro workers, and we are still fighting for our rights." The President received the letter and instructed his assistant to take care of the case. He told the workers, "My interest is for the maquila workers to have a better standard of living and more benefits." Fox asked them for a phone number to get in touch with them and told them that they were going to have an answer from him. As an act of solidarity, members of CJM in the U.S. (Cross-Border Network for Justice and Solidarity in Kansas City, The New York Labor Religion Coalition in NY, and The Campaign for Labor Rights in Virginia) simultaneously organized an action against Hallmark in Malls and shopping centers on December 23rd. What follows is the letter from the Duro workers to the President of Mexico,Vicente Fox.   December 2000 Lic.Vicente Fox Quezada Constitutional President of the United States of Mexico Through this statement we support your belief in change for the honest, democratic, and transparent government that all Mexicans have been wanting for so long. During your campaign your declarations were focused on many things, among them the poorest sector of the country, which is the working class. We want to let you know the following: We are workers who were fired unjustly for wanting to form an independent union outside of the corrupt system that was oppressing and exploiting the working class. The company where we were working, Duro of Rio Bravo, was acting in collusion with the National Union of the Cardboard, Paper and Cellulose Union (an affiliate of the C.T.M); the Conciliation and Arbitration Board No. 60 based in Reynosa, Tamaulipas; the mayor of Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, Lic. Teodoro Escalon Martinez; the Lieutenant Governor of the State, Lic Vizcaino; the Secretary of the State Labor Department; and the Governor Lic. Thomas Yarrington Ruvalcaba. All were obstructing our constitutional right to freedom of association. On June 19, 2000 in the early hours of the morning, at 1:00 AM, we were in a peaceful demonstration outside the company when we were assaulted by the municipal and state police from the neighboring cities-from Valle Hermoso, Matamoros, Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Miguel Aleman, Diaz Ordaz, and San Fernando. At 6:00 in the morning we were attacked and beaten again and arrested with the charge of illegal imprisonment. We proved that this was not true, and later, in a private meeting with us in Ciudad Victoria, the capital of the state, the Lt. Governor Vizcaino admitted very sarcastically that the police were sent by the Governor, Thomas Yarrington Ruvalcaba. It is now six months that we have been demanding our constitutional right to a democratic union to represent us and to defend the following demands: -That all of the workers who were fired be reinstalled; -That the members of the Executive Committee of the Duro Worrkers' Union be reinstalled; -Payment of withheld wages according to our labor law; -Payment of all the benefits we have a right to, including vacation time, Christmas, savings, and seniority bonuses We are asking for your reasonable, fair, and democratic intervention so that our union in the maquiladora in Duro, Rio Bravo can be recognized. In this way you will be eliminating the corrupt practices that far from benefiting the working class, have harmed them, leaving the country in a deplorable economic situation. This has happened thanks to the practices of the old system of the PRI-CTM. According to the legal process that our union is following, we are waiting for the federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board to set the date for the election of the union that will hold the contract. But the federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board, in collusion with the company and the CTM, and in an effort to lengthen the process, has allowed the CROC to demand the representation for the same collective contract. Therefore, we are asking for your support in order to solve this labor conflict, in the same way that we supported you in order that yu might have the honor of representing us as the president of all Mexicans who are demanding the changes that will benefit everyone. As Mexicans we are demanding our rights. Respectfully, The Fired Workers from Duro and the Executive Committee of the Duro Workers' Union On January the 3rd, the assistant of the Congressman from the National Action Party, Francisco Cabeza de Vaca, from Reynosa, Tamaulipas, visited the Duro workers at the Planton telling them, "You are taking the wrong way, and you should change the focus of your struggle. If you insist on forming an independent union you will never achieve anything, because you are fighting against the system. The union, the company and the government are involved and you will never get anything if you keep on struggling for the right of having an independent union. You should focus on issues of gender, you should form a commission of women, single mothers, asking for the reinstatement of your jobs, and I will help you to present it to the Women Commission in the Congress. Otherwise you are wasting your time. Far from being disappointed with the message from the Congressman, the workers started visiting some of the other workers at their homes during the Christmas holidays, giving them flyers that informed them of the hearing on January the 18th at the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board in Mexico city. The workers told them that they were expecting the time of the election to choose their own union. The Duro workers stated that the National Union of the Cardboard, Paper and Cellulose Workers (CTM) was intimidating them and telling them that they should sign their names on a list because they were keeping track of all the workers. They were told that if they did not sign this list they were not considered to be working at the maquiladora because CTM has the contract with Duro and the persons that were not affiliated to its union could no longer work there. The workers did not have any other choice but to sign the list in order to be present at the elections. But those signatures were obtained without proper consent. The CROC (Regional Confederation of Workers and Farmers) presented the list and the sheet from the social security to the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board as a proof or the workers' affiliation with them. But the CROC has no presence at all in the state of Tamaulipas nor in Duro Bag in Rio Bravo (the workers do not even have knowledge of it). Suddenly from the middle of nowhere this third union disputing the legitimacy of the contract appeared. The CROC is a confederation of workers similar to the CTM that sells contracts to the corporations with the purpose of preventing the workers from organizing independent unions to defend their labor rights. On January 18th CJM Board Members from Mexico, United States and Canada will support the Duro workers at the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board in Mexico City. Organizations and Unions from Mexico City like FAT, the UNT, CILAS, ANAD, REMALC will participate as well in the mobilization to demand the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board give them the date for the "recuento" so they can hold their elections. The union that obtains the most votes in the election is the one that will obtain the legitimate contract. CJM members are organizing another national action against Hallmark on February 10 and 11. If you want to participate please call immediately. For more information call Judy Ancel (913) 677-2158. CJM members have been supporting the construction of Eliud Almaguer's house. Eliud has started to build his house. A labor and religion delegation from New York is organizing actions to help him build his house in the week of February 19 through 23. The workers from Duro thank those CJM members that have helped Eliud as well as those who have sent blankets, candies, and toys for their kids this holiday. The Duro workers have been in the "planton" for seven months permanently encamped in front of the City Hall in Rio Bravo.They have been unjustly fired and have suffered repression from the government. They have been arrested because of the struggle for their rights. They are still waiting for the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board in Mexico City to set the date for the "recuento" in which they will elect the union that they want to represent them in the negotiation of their contract. Hallmark is a major client of Duro's Rio Bravo plant. Hallmark also has a Corporate Code of Conduct, which includes Freedom of Association. This hearing will be decisive in determining whether the Duro workers are able to have a free choice in choosing which union will represent them. The Fox government its appointment of a businessman to head the Department of Labor is not very promising. It's urgent that all of you send letters to the president of the FCAB advising him that you are aware of the hearing and hope that it speeds the process of setting a date for the union election. The only thing the workers want is to have their own union and a free election to determine who will represent them It is urgent that you send letters supporting the Duro workers to: President Vicente Fox, President of the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board, Gobernor Tomas Yarrington, Hallmark and Duro Bag, Sample letter to President Fox: Dear President Fox: We have knowledge that the workers of Duro from Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, asked your support during your trip to the border. They demanded the legitimacy of their contract with the Duro Bag in Rio Bravo, the National Union of Cardboard, Paper and Cellulose from the CTM. We have been following the process in which the workers are trying to elect their own leaders. You told the Duro workers that you wanted them to have a better standard of living and more benefits. The only way in which they can achieve that is having access to democratic union elections, using their right to vote so themselves can choose their union and negotiate their own contract; without dealing with unions that promote protection contracts for the corporations, like the CTM and the CROC. You promised to give them an answer. On January 18 they will be at the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration office in Mexico City. We ask you to respect the commitments that you made during your campaign, and to respect the constitutional right or freedom of association. But above all, do not let down the workers that trust you. Signature   President Vicente Fox Remind him of the commitment he made to the Duro workers and the "20 commitment to freedom of association" Fax: 01152 (5) 515-5792 or 516-5762 President of the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board: Lic.Virgilio Mena Becerra. Phone: 011-5-722-8768 or 011-5-722-8769, 011-5-761-0022. Ask him to set the date for the "recuento." Governor of the State of Tamaulipas, Tomas Yarrington Rubalcaba. Phone 011 5 2(1) 318-8700. Web http://www.tamaulipas.gob.mx/governor/contacto.htm Charles Shor, CEO Tel: 0-800-879-3876 or 606-581-8200 Duro Bag Co., Ludlow, KY Fax: 606-581-8327 Irv Hockaday, President & CEO Tel: (816) (816) 274-8005 Hallmark Fax: (816) 274-7555 END top