INTERNATIONAL WORKERS, DAY CELEBRATIONS HIGHLIGHT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MEXICO 002388 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR DRL/AWH AND ILCSR, WHA/MEX AND PPC, USDOL FOR ILAB E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB ECON PGOV PINR PHUM SOCI MX SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL WORKERS, DAY CELEBRATIONS HIGHLIGHT THE DISUNITY IN MEXICO,S ORGANIZED LABOR MOVEMENT REF: (A) 06 MEXICO 6038 (B) MEXICO 1358 ¶1. SUMMARY: In most countries May 1, (International Workers, Day) is viewed as a date to commemorate labor unity. That said, public events proclaiming the goal of worker unity were not much in evidence this year in Mexico. Instead, the most obvious display to come out of this year,s May 1 celebrations was a marked demonstration of the disunity that exists in Mexico,s organized labor movement. Moreover, for the first time in modern history, the Mexican Government completely and formally severed its ties to the country,s Labor Day celebrations. Now, for all practical purposes, Mexico,s organized labor movement is divided into three separate factions. The factions have similar goals (i.e. pension and fiscal reform, job creation, higher minimum wages, combating child labor, and more effective labor laws), but political party affiliations, personal ambitions and different definitions of those overall labor goal will make it difficult to achieve specific objectives anytime in the near term future. END SUMMARY. WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE! -------------- ¶2. In Mexico, as in many other parts of the world, May 1 is International Workers, Day (IWD). The date is an official GOM holiday when schools, government offices and most businesses are closed. Traditionally Labor Day festivities in Mexico are marked throughout the country by parades, mass gathering, and speeches proclaiming the goal of worker unity. The largest of the IWD celebrations always took place in Mexico City and often ended with a mass rally in the &Zocolo8, the city,s largest square. More often than not Mexico,s president would be invited to attend the rally at the Zocolo as the guest of honor. ¶3. During most of Mexico,s modern history, when the country was essentially ruled by a single political party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI),May Day celebrations were also an occasion for party leaders and the party faithful to declare their solidarity with Mexico,s workers. Until relatively recently almost all elements of the organized labor movement in Mexico were closely tied to the PRI as the ruling government party. One of the common criticisms of Mexico,s organize labor at that time was that it frequently acted in the party,s, as opposed to the workers,, best interests. During these times, for better or for worse, there was real labor unity in Mexico in that the unions and the government/party supported each. THE TIMES, AND LABOR UNITY, MOVE ON -------------- ¶4. The good old times of labor unity, between the government and organized labor, and among labor unions themselves, ended with Mexico,s 2000 presidential elections when the PRI was defeated for the first time in its history (Reftel). Almost from the time of the PRI,s 2000, the Mexican government, now ruled by the National Action Party (PAN) began distancing itself from the International Workers, Day celebration hosted under the auspices of the country,s organized labor movement. At first the government declined to attend the IWD celebrations but normally invited the leaders of the country,s largest labor unions to some highly publicized event, normally held at the official residence, &Los Pinos8 (the Mexican White House). This year, Felipe Calderon, the president of Mexico,s second successive PAN government formally declined to associate himself in any way with the IWD events. Los Pinos issued a public statement congratulating the workers for the occasion of IWD but the statement also indicated that President Calderon considered it inappropriate for the government to take a place of prominence on a day that belonged to the workers. ¶5. With the PRI,s fall from power, the labor movement elements tied to it saw a rapid acceleration of a number of debilitating factors (increased part-time hiring, outsourcing, the growth of the informal economy, job lost due to global competition and mass migration to the US) that had already begun to take a toll. Over the past 10-15 years the factors negatively impacting the unions caused them to lose membership and resources. This lost of members and funds prompted the different elements of Mexico,s organized labor movement to reassess their relationship with the PRI and with each other. This divergence of interests was on stark display in this year,s International Workers,/Labor Day MEXICO 00002388 002 OF 003 festivities on May 1. LABOR UNITY IS NOW A LABOR TRINITY -------------- ¶6. One of the most telling indications of the current weakened unity of Mexico,s organized labor movement was the fact that they could not even work together to organize a joint Labor Day celebration. This year,s main International Workers Day parades in Mexico City were in fact celebrated in three separate events. Which union organized and attended which event was mostly determined by that union,s affiliation with a particular political party (and partially by the personal aspirations of the union,s national leader). ¶7. The first of these events (attended by post,s Labor Counselor) took place in the Zocolo under the auspices of the Congress of Labor (CT),an umbrella association of labor unions. The CT is mostly composed of unions affiliated with the PRI and grouped together in the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM). The CTM was the official labor wing of the PRI in the times of single party rule. It was, and remains, the single largest labor association in Mexico although its power and membership are much diminished from what they once were. Of all the labor organizations in Mexico the CTM maintains the strongest ties to the PRI. At the same time, it has established a respectful, if not exactly close, relationship with the current ruling PAN government of President Felipe Calderon (Reftel B). ¶8. This close relationship notwithstanding, the current national president of the PRI, Beatrice Paredes, prominently attended this year,s Labor Day CT event. This year,s event began promptly at 0800 and was done by 0930 at which point the PRI affiliated unions swiftly departed the square to make room for the next event. ¶9. Once the PRI departed the Zocolo another gathering organized by the co-called &independent unions8 under the auspices of the National Workers Union (UNT) followed almost immediately. At one time all of the associate unions that compose the UNT were as closely tied to the PRI as the organizations that now make up the Congress of Labor. Since the CT unions were, at one time the GOM,s official unions, the UNT refers to its member organizations as &independent8 because they are not officially linked to any particular political party. Unofficially they could not be more closely associated to what is now Mexico,s main opposition party, the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). Because of its close ties to the PRD, UNT members are seldom genuinely interested in cooperating with the PAN government of President Felipe Calderon. The UNT unions are more combative, openly declare their leftist inclinations and tend to favor public as opposed to private solutions to economic and social problems. The UNT is strongest in the Mexico City area and the southern parts of Mexico. They often use their strength in the Mexico City area to launch protest demonstrations that have a reasonable record of winning in concessions from the GOM and the country,s various legislative authorities. ¶10. The third group of unions to hold their own separate May Day event (a short distance away from the Zocolo) was made up of labor organizations that juggle their allegiance between all three of Mexico,s major political parties. At one time the three most prominent unions at this gathering were all closely associated with the PRI. Two of those unions, the Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants/Farmers (CROC) and the National Union of Miners and Metalworkers (SNTMMSRM),formally state that they are still affiliated with the PRI. In practice these two unions often flirt with the PRD. The third organization, the National Teachers, Union (SNTE) has officially left the PRI and formed its own political party, the New Alliance Party (PANAL). In practice the SNTE, which is reportedly the largest union in Latin America, more often than not works in close association with Mexico,s ruling PAN party. All three of these unions severed or substantially diminished their ties to the PRI because their national leaders wanted some type of (labor, political or civil society) position that the party refused to give them or because they felt the PRI did not support them on some critical (but highly personal) issue. CAN,T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG? -------------- MEXICO 00002388 003 OF 003 ¶11. In their separate International Workers, Day events, all three factions of Mexico,s organized labor movement stated variations on the same themes. To varying degrees and with differing levels of emphasis all of them reportedly called for the following: pension reform (although each had a different definition of what that would mean); fiscal reform (in which business and corporations would pay their fair share of taxes); increased job creation and higher minimum wages (to stem the flow of people with needed talents emigrating to the US); combating child labor (in particular child prostitution); and more effective labor laws (especially to prevent the formation of phantom unions that have no real members and which represent the interests of the employers and not the workers). ¶12. The person who called out most stridently for labor unity was the national leader of the CROC, Isaias Gonzalez Cuevas. Gonzalez pointedly underscored the challenges facing Mexico,s organized labor movement and implored all concerned to join together for the good for their common good and for the good of the average Mexican worker. Ironically, the CROC,s national leader all but withdrew from the PRI and then distanced himself from many PRI affiliated unions when they and the party failed to support his bid to be come the president of the Congress of Labor. Last year, in a fit of anger over being denied this position the CROC,s leader actively campaigned for the PRD candidate in Mexico,s 2006 presidential elections. The PRD candidate lost but only just and the election was without a doubt one of the most controversial ballots in Mexico,s modern history. At no time during or since the May 1 celebrations has anyone publicly commented on the disconnect between the CROC leader,s rhetoric and his actions. COMMENT -------------- ¶13. For only the second time in its modern history, a political party other than the PRI is governing Mexico. This change in the country,s political history is occurring at a time when Mexico is striving to improve its democracy and simultaneously expand its economy while, at the same time, facing sharp global competition from various other developing nations. Almost every institution in the country has to adapt to these changing times and Mexico,s organized labor movement is no exception. If the goals sought by all factions of Mexico,s labor organized movement are negotiated in a spirit of compromise and thoughtfully implemented, there is little doubt that they will significantly the entire country. The desired changes (assuming common definitions can be agreed) could strengthen the economy, enhance government finances and improve general social welfare. In their May Day declarations, all three factions of Mexico,s organized labor movement called for unity in order to improve both the country an the quality of life of the Mexican worker. The months ahead will determine of any the major unions are prepared to act on the admirable principals of unity they so loudly proclaimed on International Workers, Day. Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity and the North American Partnership Blog at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / GARZA