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Education Is Key to Workers' Rights
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 05/28/2008 - 2:02pm.
The following blog was written by Sue Gross, of Wooster, Ohio, who is in Mexico participating in a JustJourney exploring economic justice.
We heard from Guadeloupe, who was fired from Johnson Controls when she asked to see a copy of the contract she had signed as a member of the protectionist union. [Protectionist unions historically have been linked with the government and represent corporate interests rather than worker interests.] With this simple question, her bosses knew that she was educating herself in regards to her rights as a worker. She had received some training from CAT.
Several former workers of Johnson Controls went to see their counterparts in Detroit. Imagine their shock to find out that U.S. workers are paid $19 per hour -- instead of $9 per day!
Yesterday we learned about auto-industry and clothing-manufacturing maquilas (or foreign-owned factories) from representatives of el Centro de Apoyo al Trabajador (CAT), a worker-support center here in Puebla.
Workers at Johnson Control in Mexico produce car seats for Volkswagon, Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. Guadeloupe told us that she worked 12-hour shifts -- and that workers were cheated out of bonuses and vacation pay. Pregnant women were not given jobs appropriate for their condition. Wages varied from 90 pesos [$9 USD] per day for subcontracted laborers (who have no benefits) to 190 pesos [$19 USD] per day, depending on the position. The company, Johnson Controls, also has a plant in Detroit, Mich.
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