AN IMAGE OF A TYPICAL MEXICAN LABOR LEADER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 MEXICO 002217

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL/AWH AND ILSCR, WHA/MEX, USDOL FOR ILAB

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/18/2015
TAGS: ELAB ECON EAGR PGOV PINR MX
SUBJECT: AN IMAGE OF A TYPICAL MEXICAN LABOR LEADER

Classified By: LABOR COUNSELOR KEVIN L. RICHARDSON REASONS 1.4 (B AND
D)


1. CLASSIFIED LABOR COUNSELOR KEVIN L. RICHARDSON REASONS
1.4 (b and d)



2. (SBU) SUMMARY: With very few exceptions the image held by
the general public in Mexico of a typical labor leader is
extremely negative. More often than not labor leaders are
seen as corrupt figures who live dishonestly from the hard
toil of genuine workers. Labor leaders are frequently viewed
on a par with shady politicians and in fact many have served
in elected office or legislative bodies at either the
federal, state or local levels; dedicating themselves not to
the public good but rather to personal enrichment.
Objectively speaking, it would be difficult to dispute many
of the criticisms leveled against Mexican labor leaders.
However, the reality of labor leaders in Mexico often defies
simplistic categorization. A good example of the mix of the
negative and the positive that is so much a part of the
reality of Mexican organized labor can be seen in the person
who currently heads the larger faction of a national labor
federation in the western state of Jalisco. This individual
is a respected leader (within his federation),a successful
politician who has held various public offices, a recognized
(again within his federation) fighter for worker rights but
one who nevertheless has a foot in both the worlds of labor
and capital. This individual is typical in that he embodies
many of the factors that have contributed to the decline of
organized labor in Mexico. END SUMMARY.


A NEGATIVE PUBLIC IMAGE
--------------


3. (U) For a large portion of the Mexican general public
words like corrupt, shady, dishonest and gangster define
their image of a typical labor leader. Such leaders are
seldom viewed as figures of respect fighting the good fight
on behalf of the workers. Instead they are usually seen as
being part of a remote elite who have little understanding of
or interest in improving the lot of Mexican workers. Mexican
labor leaders are generally held in the same low esteem
reserved for the country,s more notorious politicians in
that most people do not see either group as being
particularly accountable to them. In some regards
politicians may even be looked upon in a slightly more
favorable light since Mexican law prohibits their re-election
(consecutively to the same post) while labor leaders can be
and often are effectively elected for life.


4. (C) Mexican labor union officials are commonly seen as a
collection of disreputable individuals primarily interested
in maintaining a staggering list of perks and who only
diligently apply themselves to personal enrichment at the
expense of the worker. That said, the reality of labor
leaders in Mexico is a complex mix of the positive and the
negative. Although there are many labor leaders in Mexico
who undoubtedly deserve their negative reputations there are
many, many others who conscientiously work to carry out their
responsibilities. A good example of a labor leader whose
record reinforces many of the positive and negative images
associated with high level union officials is the man who is
currently the Secretary General of the bigger faction of
Mexico,s third largest national labor federation in the
western state of Jalisco, Alfredo Barba Hernandez.


A (LABOR) STAR IS BORN
--------------


5. (C) Alfredo Barba Hernandez is the head of the Regional
Federation of Workers and Peasants (FROC) which is the state
level branch of the Revolutionary Confederation of Workers
and Peasants (CROC) in the western Mexican state of Jalisco.
The CROC is divided into two factions in Jalisco and Barba
Hernandez is the leader of the larger faction. Moreover, on
the national level, the CROC is the third largest labor
federation in Mexico and Barba Hernandez serves on the
federation,s National Executive Committee.


6. (U) Barba Hernandez was born in rural Jalisco in May of
1944 into a family of farm workers. At around age 12 he
began working in a tequila factory. At approximately age 14

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he moved to the state,s capital city of Guadalajara and
obtained a job in a dairy factory. In 1960 Barba Hernandez
got a better job at another dairy factory named &Lechera
Guadalajara8. At that same time he first became involved in
union activities and to this day is still officially a member
of the Lechera Guadalajara union. Within four years of
becoming a Lechera Guadalajara employee Barba Hernandez not
only rose in the dairy factory,s union but also became the
coordinator of what was then an umbrella organization of
labor organizations in Jalisco representing the CROC.


7. (U) Officially the CROC is affiliated with Mexico,s
former ruling party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party
(PRI). The PRI is now one of Mexico,s two main opposition
parties and in both good times and bad, Barba Hernandez has
been an active party member. As a prominent labor leader
Barba Hernandez became very effective at being able to
deliver the union vote. His effectiveness won recognition
for him within the PRI which ultimately rewarded Barba
Hernandez with elected positions. Over time Barba Hernandez
has served on the city council and as the Mayor of one of the
five cities that make up the Guadalajara metropolitan area.
He has served twice in the Jalisco state legislature and at
present is serving for the third time as a Federal Deputy in
Mexico,s national legislature. None of these positions
would have been available to him had he not been able to
regularly deliver the union vote.


ILL-GOTTEN GAINS OR JUST GOOD NEGOTIATIONS?
--------------


8. (SBU) One of the most regularly heard complaints about
labor leaders in Mexico is that they routinely amass
incredible amounts of wealth and that they live lifestyles
that would make the rich and famous blush. Mexican Federal
Labor Law guarantees union autonomy. This autonomy has been
interpreted to mean that unions are only financially
accountable to their members and in practice even this
limited oversight is effectively non-existent. Labor leaders
have full and complete control over the use of all union
funds, dues and properties which, in the view of many
Mexicans, is an open invitation for corruption. Since no
labor leader is ever required to account outside of their
organization for his/her use of union funds the natural
assumption is that the vast wealth they all seem to acquire
comes from the use or misuse of union resources.


9. (C) In the case of Alfredo Barba Hernandez, according to
recent media reports, his estimated worth is somewhere around
$40 million pesos (approximately USD 4 million). He owns at
least 15 cars, among them six BMWs, three Audi,s, three
Acuras and a Cadillac Escalade. His main residence in
Guadalajara is in one of the most exclusive zones in the
metropolitan area (which he personally acknowledged to
Mission Mexico Labor Counselor) and he owns numerous houses
and penthouse apartments in and around Guadalajara. For most
observers it is hard to credit that Barba Hernandez acquired
his wealth legitimately. There is certainly no way to tell
definitively whether his income and possessions were all
acquired through legal and ethical means.
However, there is good reason for him to assert that a fair
portion of his wealth was obtained by perfectly legal means.


10. (C) The main source of Barba Hernandez, wealth has its
roots in his time as a recently elevated union official back
when he began working in the Lechera Guadalajara dairy.
Whenever contract negotiations with the dairy company
occurred Barba Hernandez routinely declined all but the most
basic salary and benefit increases in favor of receiving
shares of the company,s stock. It appears that he
negotiated this stock deal for himself and not for the union
in general but this was not and apparently still is not
illegal under Mexican law. Lechera Guadalajara produces one
of the more widely sold brands of milk in Mexico known as
&Sello Rojo8.


11. (C) Lechera Guadalajara is owned by a family that has
long ties to the ruling National Action Party (PAN) in
Jalisco. The PAN is now in control of Mexico,s federal
government and one of the family,s largest individual stock
holders is currently a highly placed official in the GOM,s
Secretariat of Government (Interior Ministry). If they were
so inclined, this family and this official could have ensured
that Lechera Guadalajara always received preferential

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treatment from both the Jalisco state and the Mexican federal
government. Needless to say, whenever the company stock went
up, Barba Hernandez, wealth increased as well.


12. (C) Another way that Barba Hernandez helped ensure his
own (financial) well being was by promoting the goods his
union members produced. Over time Barba Hernandez and the
FROC/CROC unions he represents has successfully negotiated
contracts with a number of national pizzeria chains. The
CROC as a national union in strongly represented in the food
service industry and Barba Hernandez has made sure that as
part of the collective bargaining contracts for various
pizzeria restaurants the chains were all compelled to buy
their cheese and other dairy products from Lechera
Guadalajara. These contracts have ensured that employment at
Lechera Guadalajara remains high and salaries for the workers
there nationally competitive. The contracts were clearly
win-win arrangements for Lechera Guadalajara, the workers and
Barba Hernandez whose wealth increased every time the dairy
producers made money. The ethics of these obligatory cheese
purchase contracts can be argued but the workers in the dairy
factory and probably those in the pizza restaurants all
benefited. Moreover, none of this in any way violates
applicable Mexican law.


A LEADER WITH CONSIDERABLE SUPPORT
--------------


13. (SBU) The sharp criticisms of Mexican labor leaders
notwithstanding, many of them have considerable support; at
least among union members if not necessarily with the general
public. In the case of Barba Hernandez, over the past two
years he has wrested control of the FROC/CROC from a more
senior leader who was long respected in Jalisco. Barba
Hernandez was able to do this by convincing a significant
number of CROC affiliated unions in Jalisco that he would be
better at defending the interests of the state,s workers.
His effort to gain control of the union leadership in Jalisco
divided the CROC at the state level but Barba Hernandez was
able to show that he had the support of the federation,s
national leadership as well as the support of an impressive
number of PRI elected officials in both houses of Mexico,s
national legislature. Alfredo Barba Hernandez is undoubtedly
a force within his labor organization at both the state and
the national levels.

COMMENT
--------------


14. (C) Alfredo Barba Hernandez is clearly a success in the
world of Mexican organized labor. He may well have bent some
rules and his business ethics may be questioned but as far as
is known he has done nothing flagrantly illegal. At least
there is no indication that he has broken any laws with
regard to his dealings with the dairy company or the pizzeria
chains. On the other hand his accomplishments and lifestyle
would not be possible in a country with different or perhaps
more strictly interpreted labor laws. Most people who see
Barba Hernandez do not know the origins of his wealth and
assume that as a labor leader he must have gotten his money
by in some way abusing the workers he is supposed to
represent.


15. (C) For most members of the Mexican general public this
assumption has placed him in the same category with other
labor leaders whose wealth was obtained in much more
questionable ways. At the end of the day, even for relatively
faultless labor leaders like Alfredo Barba Hernandez, the
appearance of wrongdoing taints them all. This appearance
(and often more than just an appearance) of wrongdoing and
self enrichment embodies many of the factors that have
contributed to the decline of organized labor in Mexico.
Outside of their immediate circles of supporters many labor
leaders in Mexico are not seen as persons the average Mexican
wants to associate with in their professional lives or to
whom they are prepared to trust their economic well-being.
Consequently, when given a choice many Mexican think twice
about being in any way affiliated with Mexican organized
labor.


16. (U) This message was cleared with AmConsul Guadalajara.




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