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Free Trade has taken away jobs and reduced a stable standard of living for workers to a dream.
Governments have bailed out corporations, while workers like those at TRW suffer massive layoffs
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 PLEASE TAKE ACTION TO KEEP OUR DEMANDS FOR JUSTICE IN THE SPOTLIGHT

• Write a letter to President Obama demanding NAFTA renegotiation and
• Write to TRW headquarters demanding TRW accountability  
• Support the TRW workers struggle

On October 5th, sixteen brave women and men, members of UAW Local 174 from Romulus, Michigan, traveled twenty-eight hours to demonstrate against NAFTA at the international bridge of Hidalgo/Mcallen, Texas, and show their support for the TRW workers struggle in Reynosa, Mexico.  Members of the IWW Rio Grande Valley and their families joined the demonstrations. The police arrived but instead of blocking the protest or harassing them, they respected the demonstration. The demonstration got full media coverage. Please see the following links--http://www.themonitor.com/news/hidalgo-31320-reynosa-autoworkers.html
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/agreements-103351-autoworkers-free.html
http://www.themonitor.com/articles/brownsville-31360-free-agreements.html, 
Police - McAllen, TX

Meanwhile on the Mexican side nearby, 200 workers from TRW protested against this corporation, which is trying to transfer workers to a warehouse that cannot accommodate that number of workers, where neither transportation nor childcare are available, and where salaries are lower.   The workers also protested against NAFTA free trade and its policies. The police surrounded and tried to intimidate them but workers endured the police threats and harassments and kept protesting.   Please see the following links:----------

1. Protest - TRW  2. Police

http://reynosan.ipower.com/cutenews/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1254780463&archive=&template=Default
http://www.mcallear.com/articles/reynosa-33592-elnuevoheraldo-empresa-piden.html http://www.enlineadirecta.info/nota.php?art_ID=107738&titulo=Se_manifiestan_ex_empleados_de_TRW_en_el_Puente_Internacional_.html http://www.proceso.com.mx/noticias_articulo.php?articulo=72888
http://www.metronoticias.com.mx/id.pl?id=27684&relax=OBREROS&pub=Default
http://www.metronoticias.com.mx/id.pl?id=27728&relax=OBREROS&pub=Default
http://www.latarde.com.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1179

In Detroit, the Centro Obrero and its supporters and members from UAW Local 174 also protested at the International Bridge Ambassador. IWW members protested in Windsor Canada, in support of TRW workers and against NAFTA free Trade as well. CJM got a phone report from the organizers.
The members of UAW Local 174 from Michigan protested again the next day, on Tuesday, October 6, at the Veterans International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas. They blocked the bridge and after a while the police arrived threatening to arrest them if they didn’t stop blocking traffic.  Please see the following links: Protest in Brownsville

The UAW Local 174 members returned to Michigan, proud that they had accomplished their mission of raising their voices against NAFTA Free Trade and in solidarity with TRW workers.

The most inspiring moment was when George Hardey, First Vice President of Local 174, and members of the UAW, crossed the border to meet with the TRW workers from Reynosa, Mexico, to show them solidarity support. Please see the following link:  UAW & TRW Workers
Officials of the local municipal government arrived and invited CJM’s Executive Director to meet with the secretary of the governor to find a solution to the TRW workers situation. But CJM’s Executive Director encouraged them to meet instead with TRW workers, which they did.  TRW insisted that workers affiliate themselves with the CTM corporate union, but the workers demanded that TRW recognize the Workers Coalition that they formed according to Mexican Labor Law, and that TRWnegotiate directly with the Workers Coalition. Please see the following link---------
http://www.enlineadirecta.info/nota.php?art_ID=107759&titulo=Luebbert,_preocupado_por_apoyar_a_obreros.htm
 http://knvotv48.com/archives/22572

Meanwhile, Ernesto Lizcano of the TRW Workers Coalition and Israel Monroy of the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras continue their tour of the U.S., generating support for the TRW workers - from Detroit to San Diego!

•  Please write a letter to TRW’s CEO in Michigan headquarters, demanding that TRW be accountable to the workers and negotiate directly with the Workers Coalition instead of the charro corporate CTM union
• Please keep sending messages to President Obama demanding that NAFTA be renegotiated 
• Send a tax-deductible contribution to the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras: Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras, 3611 Golden Tee LN, Missouri City, TX 77459

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SAMPLE MESSAGE to President Obama: Phone: 202-456-111, 202-456-1414, Fax 202 456-2461  info@messages.whitehouse.gov. Please send copy of your letters to CJM at: cjm_martha@igc.org, cjm_alonzo@igc.org, cjm_cynthia@igc.org
To: info@messages.whitehouse.gov

Subject: NAFTA fails to protect workers’ rights
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President, 

The NAFTA trade agreement has failed to meet the expectations of economic growth and development. Instead, NAFTA has increased unemployment, economic instability and insecurity, poverty and environmental injustice in the three countries of North America. 

Multinational corporations such as TRW, a US corporation based in Livonia, Michigan, have profited by exploiting cheap labor, thanks to free trade agreements. After many years of phenomenal earnings, corporations are now laying off workers. In the case of TRW in Mexico, they are laying off workers without the severance payments that the workers are owed by law. 

Trade agreements are about much more than trade. Trade agreements must have mechanisms to address and resolve the social consequences they create. 

Despite the economic crisis, now is the right time to renegotiate NAFTA and address the need for immigration reform, which is inextricably linked to NAFTA. 

The evidence of NAFTA's failure is everywhere - people are suffering the real consequences of unregulated and irresponsible free trade policies. 

I call on you to investigate and regulate multinational corporations such as TRW, which is violating workers' rights and operating with impunity in Mexico. 

I also urge you to uphold your commitment to address immigration reform and renegotiate the NAFTA trade agreement immediately. 

Respectfully
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Sample TRW headquarters message to send to:

• John C. Plant, President and Chief Executive Officer TRW Automotive. Phone: 734.855.2600. Email: John.plant@trw.com
• Neil Marchuk Exec. VP for Human Resources. Phone: 734.855.3871 (office) 734.748.0676 (cell) 734.855.2473 (fax) Email: Neil.Marchuk@trw.com
• John Wilkerson, Senior Communication Manager. Phone: 734 855 3864. Email: John.Wilkerson@trw.com

To: John.plant@trw.com; Neil.Marchuk@trw.com; John.Wilkerson@trw.com; 
 Subject: Urgent concern about TRW operations in Reynosa, Mexico
John C. Plant, President and Chief Executive Officer TRW

Dear Mr. Plant

We are aware that in the evidence hearing on September 22, 2009, the TRW lawyer insisted on relocating workers to the TRW warehouse in Reynosa Industrial Park. We also learned that in order to comply, the workers would have to wait after their shift ends, from 1:45 a.m. until 5:00 a.m., because the last public transportation passes at 1:00 a.m. and the workers’ shift ends at 1:45 a.m.
Is unacceptable that TRW,  a plant that produces safety equipment, exposes its workers, most of them young women, to unsafe conditions, forcing them to wait more than 3 hours in the early morning for transportation. Moreover, the labor conditions are worse and the salaries in the warehouse are lower than what workers were earning at the other plant, where some of them have worked for 20 years..
We urge you to negotiate with the Workers Coalition, to respect their rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining, and to respect their right to jobs by ensuring that workers are not blacklisted. The workers should be reinstated with back pay or TRW should pay them their severance payment.
Respectfully,

YOUR NAME
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