Roundup of events on 13 March 2008 Day of Action

Thanks to everyone who participated in actions yesterday to support workers at Key Safety Systems in Valle Hermoso, Tamaulipas,Mexico!

Visit to KSS headquarters in Sterling Heights a suburb of Detroit, Michigan
Perla Cruz, a worker at KSS who was fired on February 14th for organizing to demand respect for labor rights at the plants, and Israel Monroy, an organizer supporting the KSS struggle, made a stop at KSS headquarters during their tour of North America to mobilize around the KSS struggle.

Their visit was part of an international campaign launched by the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras supporting workers fighting for better working conditions, livable wages, and health and saftety for the 3,500 workers in the four KSS plants in Valle Hermoso. The conditions Perla and her coworkers complain about sadly are nothing new but rather are typical of the maquila industry in Mexico.

“When I was chosen by my co-workers to come and represent them I was not sure I would do a good job, I was pretty nervous,” Cruz said, recalling the beginning of the international tour.  “But this morning I was so determined to tell the people we make huge profits for about the conditions we work in back home.”

As Cruz walked into KSS headquarters flanked by representatives of an NGO coalition of local supporters, she was faced by a receptionist who told her that she would not be allowed to see KSS CEO Mr. Luo, and that if the delegation did not leave, the receptionist would summon the police.

Elena Herrada, from the Detroit Worker’s Center, remarked that Cruz had traveled all the way from Mexico to meet with Mr. Luo. “We’re staying and that’s it!!!” she declared.

Facilities Manager Mr. Erwin eventually emerged to meet with the delegation. When he addressed a member of the Interfaith Support Committee, saying that any problems that existed were only between Key Safety Systems and the workers, the minister replied that an injustice to one is an injustice to all. Mr. Erwin listened to the workers grievances, and accepted a packet of documents on behalf of the company. 

CJM’s Martha Ojeda, speaking from her San Antonio office, said that the message to the company was: Decent jobs are what workers need and that these workers are not alone. If capital does not have borders, neither does international solidarity.“

International Solidarity Actions
CJM members and supporters mobilized in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit and elsewhere, protesting in front of car dealers, calling and sending messages to KSS headquarters. There will be a protest in Markham,Ontario, Canada, when the KSS delegation reaches Toronto on 16 March.

KSS Protest in Valle Hermoso
A slow down on production lines by workers under pressure to produce more with fewer workers caused supervisors to react by trying to intimidate workers.

Supervisors distributed masks to workers who before had only received them when inspectors or visitors were due. One group of workers for the first time were also supplied with safety equipment that they were told was to protect them from contamination by anti-friction powder.

Workers learned that on 10 March 2008 a worker from Matamoros who had not received training was badly injured on the job. Working without safety equipment, he was cut to the bone.

KSS Responds

FORD
Around 2:45 p.m., a KSS supervisor sent a group of 5 workers to Human Resources, explaining that a representative of Ford was there to interview them. The interviewer told them that the company would not be informed of what the workers said, and proceeded to ask them a series of questions: How did supervisors treat them, were they permitted to use the bathroom, were they given safety equipment, had they signed a contract when they started working, how much were they paid, did the company enroll them in the government health program (IMSS)? One worker close to the KSS plants charro union delegate answered that everything was fine and there were no problems.

KSS
Another group of workers was interrogated by someone who later admitted he was with KSS. He asked workers for their names and birthdates, and details about their jobs and about the fired workers and the Workers’ Coalition, including which union they preferred, the charro union or the Workers’ Coalition. Most of the workers refused to answer the questions out of concern for reprisals. At the end, they were told that their responses were confidential.

Letter from Representative Rosario Ortiz on KSS Impunity 
The KSS Workers’ Coalition received a copy of the letter that Representative Rosario Ortiz delivered to the Mexican Congress denouncing conditions at KSS plants in Valle Hermoso and the lack of accountability for company’s abuses of labor rights. Representative Ortiz also denounced the imposition of the CTM union without elections, the abuse of authority by the CTM union representative, and expressed her support for the  workers’ demands.

Workers’ Protest
The daughters and sons of the fired workers arrived at Valle Hermoso’s main plaza with their friends and students from CEBTIS, who were told by the CEBTIS director that they would be expelled from school if they joined the KSS workers’ protest.

People in a white car took photos of the Workers’ Coalition. People in a red car wrote down license plate numbers and photographed the protesters. 

KSS Plants: Televisa News arrived and interviewed workers in front of the factory. A security guard was chewed out by Jaime Carballo, head of KSS security, for not telling him that Televisa and the media were there.   

Since the protest was planned for lunch time, workers inside the plant had organized to go out and show their support for the Workers’ Coalition, which they did with enthusiasm while supervisors tried to herd them back inside the building.  

Valle Hermoso Mayor and City Government
Protestors headed to the mayor’s office. Residents of the neighborhood joined them. The head of the City Council met with a workers’ comission, which explained the situation and demanded that the mayor guarantee that jobs in local factories be safe and pay livable wages. The workers also demanded that the fired KSS workers be reinstated with back pay.