Thread by @DanielRangelJ

1. While the recent unionization drive in U.S. workplaces is getting weekly headlines, folks need to pay more attention to what’s going in Mexico, where last week 1500+ Panasonic workers chose an independent union to represent them. Trade rules are helping workers for a change🧵

2. In 2019, Congress passed a revised version of NAFTA, which is the trade agreement between Mexico, Canada, and the United States. A key part were stronger rules to protect workers from union busting, to stop the race to the bottom over pay and working conditions.

3. Using these revised #NAFTA labor rules, the U.S. can look into labor rights violations in Mexico and impose sanctions on violating companies…

4. An independent Mexican union and my organization Rethink Trade filed a petition last week before the U.S. gov over abuses at a Panasonic plant in Reynosa. Here’s the story of what happened. rethinktrade.org/wp-content/upl…

5. Last October, Panasonic workers voted down a collective contract. Why? Well, this contract was organized by a union, but it was a union controlled by the company itself. These fake unions are called ‘protection unions.’

6. The protection union had “negotiated" a bad agreement years before, with bad pay and conditions. Under the new labor law required by the revised NAFTA, workers could finally reject this agreement which allows them to choose a new union. And they did reject it!

7. @Obreros_Uni2, a scrappy independent union founded after city-wide Matamoros wildcat strikes in 2019, then announced that they would try to represent the workers. Here’s labor leader @terrazas_prieto saying just that:
elsoldemexico.com.mx/finanzas/pelea…

8. When Panasonic heard that workers might get a *real* union, they were terrified. So they brought in a different company union. This one was named SIAMARM, and it is more powerful and corrupt than the original protection union.

9. In the meantime, Mexican federal authorities called for an election between the two unions to let the workers choose. But Panasonic simply ignored the Mexican federal government and their workers, and recognized the SIAMARM as its employees' union.

10. The company started withholding union dues for SIAMARM from its employees’ paychecks. It signed a new contract with this corrupt union, and disregarded the election that was already scheduled for Apr. 21-22! You may not know labor law, but… This. Is. Crazy.

11. Workers protested for over a week, with work stoppages, and many of them got fired. Management asked a group of workers to negotiate a resumption of activities… And then they fired those workers! Some pictures of the protests here 👇
facebook.com/Ignacio.Scocco…

12. Then came the actual election mandated by Mexican labor law, thanks to the revised NAFTA. Election day started with company union thugs trying to intimidate workers as they went into the plant.

13. SIAMARM’s President then delivered a scary speech threatening the leader of the independent union. This is an actual quote: We “will build up the country with @terrazas_prieto’s ashes.” You can see the video, in Spanish, here 👇
facebook.com/ReynosaSinAnes…

14. In spite of these threats, 75% of workers voted for @Obreros_Uni2, the independent union. That is courage. Yet, Panasonic hasn’t accepted the vote's outcome and SIAMARM is still operating inside of the plant as if nothing changed after the vote! Once again… This. Is. Crazy.

15. Workers and union organizers are facing serious threats. The situation is both dire, but also hopeful. The threats are real. But we can hold Panasonic accountable for its egregious behavior. And it has worked before. reuters.com/article/mexico…

16. Trade rules are starting to help workers have a fair shot at organizing instead of undermining them. More about how this came to be and the context of this complaint on my latest entry in Rethink Trade’s newsletter👇
medium.com/rethinktrade/t…