MEXICO COMMEMORATES WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MEXICO 003176 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR DRL/AWH AND ILCSR, WHA/MEX AND PPC, USDOL FOR ILAB E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB ECON PHUM EAGR KWMN SOCI PINR KCRM MX SUBJECT: MEXICO COMMEMORATES WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOR REF: (A) MEXICO 2520 (B) 06 MEXICO 5857 ¶1. SUMMARY: In commemoration of the UN/ILO,s World Day Against Child Labor, the Lower House of the Mexican Congress and the CROC labor union (the country,s third largest labor federation) organized a highly publicized press event to highlight the gravity of the problem of child labor in Mexico. The event was attended by various federal legislators, an assortment of the CROC,s member unions, the ILO Representative for Mexico, representatives from GOM social welfare agencies, NGO,s and Mission Mexico personnel. Notably absent was any official representative from the GOM,s Secretariat of Labor (STPS),although an Assistant Secretary level Labor official did give extensive interviews SIPDIS to the press acknowledging the federal government,s shortcomings in combating child labor. Nearly everyone who spoke at the event underscored that the problem of child labor cannot be separated from the problem of extreme poverty (especially rural poverty) in Mexico. Judging by the amount of recent press coverage about child labor in Mexico has received the event was apparently a success. However, little was said about specific next steps to address the problem of child labor in Mexico. On the margins of the event, the senior CROC official for the Baja California region approached post,s Labor Counselor to suggest increased USG and union cooperation to combat child labor in his area. One possible option for cooperation might be to try and involve the Baja California CROC in the anti-trafficking in persons/rule of law project USAID is currently undertaking in places like AmConsul Ciudad Juarez, consular district. END SUMMARY. UNION WORKS WITH MEXICAN CONGRESS TO COMBAT CHILD LABOR -------------- -------------- ¶2. On June 12, the CROC labor union (Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants/Farmers) and the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of the Mexican Congress),organized a highly publicized media event to highlight the dimensions of the problem of child labor in Mexico. The event was timed to coincide with the UN/ILO,s commemoration of the World Day Against Child Labor and was attended by various federal legislators, an assortment of the CROC,s member unions, the ILO Representative for Mexico, 
representatives from GOM social welfare agencies, NGO,s and Mission Mexico personnel. The driving force behind this event was the CROC which is perhaps the third largest labor federation in Mexico. Many of the CROC,s associate member unions are prominent in the hotel and restaurant industries particularly in the areas of Mexico City and the Yucatan peninsula beach resorts in and around Cancun. The CROC has made combating child labor, particularly in the commercial sex trade, one of its main priorities and has in the past benefited from technical support made possible by US Department of Labor funding aimed at stopping the worst forms of child labor (REF B). ¶3. One of the main speakers at the event was the CROC,s national leader, union Secretary General, Isais Gonzalez Cuevas. In discussing the dimensions of the problem, Gonzalez stated that the GOM,s Secretariat of Labor (STPS) has sadly proven that it was not up to the task of protecting children from the abuses of child labor occurring in Mexico. Although he faulted the STPS, Gonzalez did not portray the problem of child labor as solely a government responsibility and he offered to re-enforce the efforts the CROC is already undertaking to combat child labor. In that regard Gonzalez claimed that the CROC had already trained some 350,000 people employed in hotels, restaurants, working as taxi drivers and as tour guides on how to spoke and report to the proper authorities suspected instances of children being exploited in the commercial sex trade. (Comment: Gonzalez, claim was somewhat vague as to whether all of the people trained were members of a CROC affiliated labor union.) ¶4. Continuing on, Gonzalez repeatedly stressed that the problem of child labor could not be separated from or properly addressed without also addressing the high levels of extreme poverty in Mexico. The problem of child labor and poverty, Gonzalez said, were most pronounced in rural areas where the lack of employment or underemployment forces parents to press their children into the labor market, in MEXICO 00003176 002 OF 003 particular as agricultural workers. Despite the fact that the CROC began as a union with a strong agricultural worker component (hence the word &Peasants8 in its name) its representation in that area is only a fraction of what it once was. ¶5. At present, the CROC is strongest in the hotel and restaurant industries but it also has a respectable number of unions in the textile industry. No doubt it was because of these unions that when Gonzalez finished his points on rural poverty he turned to the problem of contraband. Contraband, Gonzalez said, was destroying Mexican jobs and industries. Without these jobs large numbers of families are pushed into poverty which places urban families in the same situation as rural families that can only survive by forcing their children into the labor market. He then urged the Mexican Congress and government to increase their efforts to reduce poverty in Mexico as the best way of combating child labor. ILO FOCUSES ON CHILD LABOR IN AGRICULTURE -------------- ¶6. The next speaker was the Representative of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Mexico, Miguel Del Cid. Del Cid acknowledged the seriousness of the problem in Mexico of children being exploited in the commercial sex trade but indicated that his agency felt it could do the greatest good for a larger number of children by focusing its efforts on the problem of child labor in agriculture. According to the ILO, seven out of every ten children forced into the labor market are pressed into the role of agricultural workers. ¶7. Del Cid indicated that the problem of child labor was more pronounced in rural areas because governments like Mexico,s often lack the resources needed to properly enforce labor laws. Because of this his agency estimated that some 3.3 million children between the ages of 6-14 were currently forced to leave school and were pressed into jobs in order to help maintain their families. The ILO calculates that this figure represents 20 percent of all the children in the 6-14 years age group in Mexico. The overwhelming majority of these children, Del Cid stated, are currently employed as agricultural workers. LABOR SECRETARIAT ACCEPTS BLAME FOR THE GOM -------------- ¶8. Although there were no GOM Labor Secretariat (STPS) representatives at the event, on the same day, an Assistant Secretary level official spoke extensively to the press about SIPDIS on the problem of child labor in Mexico. The STPS official freely acknowledged that the GOM had failed to meet its responsibilities under Mexican law with respect to preventing abuses of child law. Mexican federal labor mandates a minimum daily wage for all employees (approximately equivalent to USD 4.50) and specifically prohibits the employment of anyone under age 14. ¶9. According to the STPS official, there are currently some 3 million children forced to work who are below the federal minimum age for employment. The official said that this figure represented only 15 percent of the children in the 6-14 year old age group for Mexico; as opposed to the figure of 20 percent cited by the ILO. The official agreed with the ILO that most of these children were employed as agricultural workers but also calculated that some 20,000 children throughout Mexico are trafficked in the commercial sex trade. The Mexican states with the highest levels of child labor, the STSP official said, were the states of Jalisco, Nayarit, Sonora, Sinaloa, Baja California and Tabasco. This list of problem states differed somewhat from the states cited separately by the GOM,s Nation Statistics Institute (INEGI) which listed Chiapas, Campache, Puebla and Veracruz. (Comment: As reported in REF A, there still appears to be considerable disagreement on the statistics which describe the problem of child labor in Mexico.) A REQUEST FOR CLOSER COOPERATION -------------- MEXICO 00003176 003 OF 003 ¶10. Immediately following the event which took place at the offices of the Mexican Congress, post,s Labor Counselor was approached by senior CROC official for the Baja California region of Mexico (AmConsul Tijuana,s consular district). The CROC official referred to the growing tourist industry in his region and suggested that it might beneficial for the USG and the union offices in the Baja California area to work more closely together to try and deal with the problems of child labor. Labor Counselor replied that the idea of closer cooperation in his region, especially with regard to the worst forms of child labor (the commercial sex trade) was an excellent suggestion. Post,s Labor Counselor advised the union official that any such cooperation might be more effectively coordinated by working with AmConsul Tijuana and offered to act as a liaison to facilitate some initial introductions. The CROC official and Labor Counselor then tentatively scheduled a meeting at a later discuss the issue of possible cooperation in more detail. COMMENT -------------- ¶11. If the amount of media coverage is any indication the CROC/Mexican Congress was a success in terms of drawing attention to the problem of child labor in Mexico, at least in the short term. Unfortunately, there was very little mentioned in the event or accompanying press coverage and follow-up commentary about concrete next steps. The event participants all clearly linked the issue of poverty in Mexico with the problems associated with child labor. Attention was clearly drawn to the complex problems of rural poverty and the distressing issue of children being forced into the commercial sex trade, but nothing was said that would indicate a firm plan in either the short or long term to address these complex and major issues. ¶12. On a small scale, the offer of closer cooperation from the CROC official responsible for the Baja California region might be an opportunity to make some type of beginning in that area. Post will report on whatever details or suggestions that are ultimately provided by the CROC official for Baja California and coordinate any future actions that appear feasible with AmConsul Tijuana. One possible option for cooperation might be to involve the Baja California CROC in the anti-trafficking in persons/rule of law project aimed at legal reform such as the one USAID is currently undertaking in AmConsul Ciudad Juarez, consular district. Admittedly, child labor is only one aspect of trafficking in persons but the USAID project, which aims to implement more effective civil and criminal justice systems, is a concrete example of the types of cooperative efforts can help. 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