China and Mexico autoworkers fight back
By
Martha Grevatt
Published Jun 10, 2010 9:22 AM
Two strikes of autoworkers, one in China and one in Mexico, have ended with the
workers making gains.
After 400 workers struck a plant of auto parts supplier Johnson Controls in
Puebla, Mexico — drawing international support — the company on May
29 agreed to recognize the National Union of Mine and Metal Workers (SNTMMSRM).
Ties to the “Protection Contract Union” — a company union
that had signed a secret, sweetheart agreement without workers’ knowledge
or consent — were severed. Contracts with bona fide, independent unions
are the exception rather than the rule, making this a tremendous win.
Some 70 thugs had gone to the factory on May 26 to intimidate the workers, who
also had been threatened with discharge if they did not end their affiliation
with the SNTMMSRM. In a response, labor organized an international call-in
campaign targeting the company. Members of the United Auto Workers, AFL-CIO;
Maquiladora Solidarity Network and the International Metalworkers Federation
demanded the company recognize the union of the workers’ choosing.
A few days later, a contract was signed promising no reprisals for striking, a
$100 bonus and direct hiring of contract workers.
In Foshan, China, workers returned to work June 2 after a two-week strike at
the Honda transmission plant there. They were angry over the failure of wages
to keep up with prices, as well as the widening gap between workers and the
business elite.
The strike had crippled Honda’s production throughout China. Honda had
offered workers a 24 percent raise. However, the strike won raises of 34
percent and more. Lower-paid college interns won raises of 70 percent. This
brought everyone’s pay up to around $300 per month.
“It’s a victory for the workers,” a Honda employee told the
New York Times. (June 4)
The strike settlement is a victory for all workers in China. After the strike
ended, electronics giant Foxconn raised wages 33 percent. Foxconn, which has
800,000 Chinese employees and supplies Apple and other major computer firms,
has had a number of worker suicides recently tied to low wages and bad working
conditions. Apparently, this was less of a concern to that company than a
possible strike.
Members of the United Auto Workers, holding their convention in Detroit in
early June, should celebrate the victories of their counterparts in Asia and
Latin America — and think about reviving their own militant
traditions.
The writer has been an autoworker for 22 years.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
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