COALITION FOR JUSTICE IN THE MAQUILADORAS
TRW headquarters is avoiding responding to the workers!! |
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TRW Workers Coalition gets full media coverage as it takes over the Conciliation and Arbitration Board URGENT: PLEASE SEND A MESSAGE to TRW headquarters supporting TRW Workers- On July 13, Neil Marchuk, TRW Executive Vice President of Human Resources, replied to CJM’s Board President’s letter of concern. In his letter (see below), Marchuk argues that TRW made an agreement with the local “charro” and corporate CTM union and with the Conciliation and Arbitration Board to relocate the workers. Marchuk is apparently not aware of the fact that their agreement with the local union does not apply to the members of the TRW Workers Coalition, because the local union does not represent them. Of the 800 workers who used to work at TRW Industrial Park del Norte, only 50 workers remained affiliated to the CTM union. Furthermore, the secretary general of the local union of Reynosa, Javier Hernandez Salas, declared in the newspaper and on the TV news on April 16th that he does not have any relationship with the workers who formed the TRW Workers Coalition. He also publicly recognized that of the 800 workers who used to work in TRW, only 50 remained in the local union. These are the workers who were relocated to Reynosa Industrial Park and who are actually working in the warehouse that TRW improvised in Reynosa Industrial Park for the relocated workers. The following is a link to the Reynosa newspaper with the local union secretary general’s declaration that we mention above: SE DESLINDA JAVIER HERNÁNDEZ DE TRABAJADORES DE LA EMPRESA TRW We ask: if the local union reached an agreement with the TRW local management of Reynosa, as Marchuk indicated in his message, why then has the lawyer for the local CTM union registered complaints against TRW with the labor board for the same reasons as the 300 complaints presented by the TRW Workers Coalition? According to the Workers Coalition, the shop floor where they were working on TRW Industrial Park del Norte had 70 assembly lines. TRW local managements is relocating workers from the TRW Industrial Park del Norte to a warehouse that was formerly used to store raw material for TRW Reynosa production. They set up 17 assembly lines there to relocate the workers of TRW Del Norte Industrial Park. But the warehouse is half the size of the facility where they have been working and will not provide enough space to accommodate the 800 workers. Also, the local management told the workers that the will provide transportation only for three months and that the pickup point will be the Del Norte Industrial Park. This means that the workers will have to leave home before 5:00 a.m., go to Industrial Park del Norte where they used to work, get on the two vans there, and travel to the TRW Industrial Park Reynosa by 6:10 a.m to arrive on time at work. When TRW workers learned about the reply to CJM by Mr. Marchuk at TRW headquarters, they called a press conference on July 13th, which received full coverage in the newspapers and TV, showing them taking over the CAB and confronting the President about the agreement he made with TRW. Link of the TRW workers press conference. You can also see a video of the TRW workers demonstration on the CAB, on the web page of the El Mañana de Reynosa July 14th, 2009. (www.elmananarey.com) The Workers Coalitions members are demanding NOT to be blacklisted, permanent transportation from the places they live, childcare, and a bonus for the relocation. Take action now! Support the workers! Write a letter to TRW headquarters demanding that TRW negotiate with the Workers Coalition, respect the workers rights, or pay them severance and back pay. Neil Marchuk cc: John.plant@trw.com; Adam.Jeffries@TRW.COM, John.Harju@TRW.COM, Joe.Gaus@TRW.COM, John.Wilkerson@trw.com, Lynette.Jackson@trw.com, Steve.Lunn@trw.com
Dear Mr. Marchuk, Thank you for responding to our concern regarding the TRW workers in Reynosa. Your response shows that TRW Automotive is not aware of Mexican Law procedures and also that local management of TRW Vehicle Systems is not accurately reporting to TRW headquarters. The workers of TRW in Industrial Park Del Norte formed the Workers Coalition of TRW on April 10th, 2009, in keeping with their exercise of the right to freedom of association, consistent with Mexican Labor Law, the Mexican Constitution, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 87th and 98th ILO Conventions. Therefore, the agreement between TRW local management and the local union you mention does not apply to the TRW Workers Coalition, since these workers are not members of the local union. The local union can only reach a legally-binding agreement for their members. Furthermore, the secretary general of the local union in Reynosa, Javier Hernandez Salas, declared in the newspaper and on the TV news on April 16th,, 2009, that he does not have any relationship with the workers who formed the TRW Workers Coalition. He also stated that of the 800 workers who used to work at TRW, only 50 remained as members of the local union. These are the workers who were relocated to the Reynosa Industrial Park and who are actually working in the warehouse that TRW improvised in Reynosa Industrial Park for the relocated workers. The following is a link to the Reynosa newspaper with the local union secretary general’s declaration that we mention above: SE DESLINDA JAVIER HERNÁNDEZ DE TRABAJADORES DE LA EMPRESA TRW The local union cannot oblige the workers of the TRW Workers Coalition to join the local union that made the agreement with TRW Vehicle Systems in Reynosa. Neither can the local management of Reynosa blacklist these workers just because they exercised their right to freedom of association. For this reason, and in keeping with Mexican Labor Law, TRW local management in Reynosa does not have any other choice than to negotiate with the TRW Workers Coalition concerning the terms of their relocation or, alternatively, pay them severance and back pay. If the local union reached an agreement with TRW local management in Reynosa, as you indicated in your message, why then has the lawyer for the local union registered complaints against TRW with the labor board for the same reasons as the 300 complaints presented by the TRW Workers Coalition? Regarding transportation, the TRW Workers Coalition is demanding that TRW Reynosa provide them PERMANENT transportation from strategic sites chosen because they are locations near to where the workers live. TRW local management has told the workers that they will have transportation ONLY FOR THREE MONTHS and that the pick up point for the two vans that will drive them, will be Del Norte Industrial Park. This means that the workers will have to leave their homes before 5:00 a.m. to reach Industrial Park del Norte where they used to work, in order to board the two vans that will then take them to TRW Industrial Park Reynosa by 6:10 a.m. According to the TRW Workers Coalition, the shop floor where they were working on TRW Industrial Park del Norte had 70 assembly lines. TRW local management has set up just 17 assembly lines for the TRW Workers of Del Norte in an improvised warehouse that was formerly used to store raw material for TRW Reynosa production. The size of the warehouse is half the size of the facility where they have been working and will not provide enough space to accommodate 800 more workers. In addition, the Workers Coalition members are concerned about the fact that TRW local management has placed two signs at the entrance to TRW Reynosa Park. The first sign has an arrow pointing to the right indicating the way that the workers of TRW Electronic in Reynosa must follow to their facility. This path is attractive, with green areas and benches. The other sign has an arrow pointing to the left indicating the route that TRW del Norte workers should follow to their assembly lines. The workers said that this route leads through the parking lot, forcing workers to dodge moving trailer trucks in order to reach the warehouse. They consider this route unsafe and believe that it poses the potential for serious accidents. The TRW Workers Coalition is willing to negotiate with local management, but local management has refused to do so. We encourage TRW leadership in Livonia, Michigan, to investigate very closely the TRW local management of Reynosa, because it seems that what they are reporting to you is not accurate. We demand that the management of TRW del Norte, DOES NOT blacklist workers who are simply exercising their rights. TRW is violating Mexican Labor Law and the Mexican Constitution by doing so. We urge TRW to respect the workers’ rights, negotiate with the Workers Coalition, and reach an agreement about the terms of their relocation or pay them severance and back pay.
Sincerely Name ---------- --------------------------
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