Letter to the Governor of Puebla, Mexico, on Behalf of Vaqueros Navarra Factory Workers

Mario Marín Torres
Gobernador Constitucional del Estado de Puebla
Casa Aguayo, 14 Ote. #1204, Barrio El Alto
Puebla, Pue. C. P. 72000 — Mexico
Via e-mail: gobernador@puebla.gob.mx

Estimado Gobernador Marín Torres:

On behalf of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, I am writing to urge your government to take immediate steps to ensure that the workers at the Vaqueros Navarra factory in Tehuacan, Puebla have the right to be represented by the union of their choice without employer or government interference.

We have received disturbing reports indicating that management at Vaqueros Navarra has unjustly dismissed more than 100 workers - half of whom have been dismissed in the last few days - for the crime of exercising their fundamental human right to organize for the purposes of bargaining collectively with their employer. Reports also indicate that the company is harassing and intimidating workers affiliated with the the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria de la Costura, Confección, Similares y Conexos Diecinueve de Septiembre while allowing organizers affiliated with the Confederacion Regional Obrera Mexicana (CROM) to actively campaign within the factory, despite the fact that it does not hold title to the collective agreement, something which is illegal under Mexican labor law.

Meanwhile, the Junta Local de Conciliación y Arbitraje has accepted other petitions for title to the collective agreement thereby clearly demonstrating its intention to prolong the conflict for an indefinite period, to the benefit of the employer and to the detriment of the workers.

We would therefore strongly urge you to personally intervene in this case directly with Grupo Navarra, in order to ensure that the company does the following:

• Immediately ceases the ongoing dismissals and harassment of workers associated with the September 19 Union;
• Immediately ceases its active promotion of the CROM within the factory;
• Immediately ceases all management interference with the right of the workers to freely select the union and union representatives of their choice; and
• Immediately reinstates all workers who have been unjustly dismissed.

Moreover we hope that you use your authority as constitutional governor to ensure that state labor authorities under your charge respond immediately to the workers' petition to be represented by the September 19 Union by holding, without further delay, a free and fair recuento by secret ballot and in the facilities of the Junta Local de Conciliación y Arbitraje de Tehuacan.

Our organization and others around the world will be monitoring the situation closely to ensure that the recuento is held without further delay and in a free, fair, and transparent manner in which the internationally recognized right of workers to be represented by the union of their choice unhampered by employer or government interference is fully respected.

Thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this important matter. We look forward to receiving a report on the actions the Puebla labor authorities are taking to ensure that the Vaqueros Navarra workers' associational rights are respected.

Sincerely,

Charles Clements
President and CEO
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
689 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02139