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INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MEXICO 000545 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL/AWH AND ILCSR, WHA/MEX AND USDOL FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON PGOV SOCI PINR MX
SUBJECT: INTER-UNION DISPUTE SPARKS TENSION IN NORTHERN 
MEXICO 
 
REF: (A) 07 MEXICO 2285 (B) MEXICO 0354 
 
 ¶1.  SUMMARY: Outside of the greater Mexico City metropolitan 
area, the northern state of Nuevo Leon is probably one of the 
most heavily industrialized and certainly the most business 
friendly entities in the country.  Overall, relations between 
the private sector and organized labor in Nuevo Leon are 
peaceful and cooperative.  Unfortunately, the same cannot 
always be said of relations between the larger worker 
federations that make up the Nuevo Leon,s organized labor 
movement (REF A).  For many years now there has been 
considerable competition between the state level 
organizations of two of Mexico,s larger labor federations; 
the CTM (Confederation of Mexican Workers) and the CROC 
(Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants).  The 
ongoing rivalry between these two organizations has always 
been intense but until very recently considerable time has 
passed since that competition was anything but peaceful. 
Over the past few weeks, however, the peace between the CROC 
and CTM has collapsed into a least one incident of violence 
and a series of public protests and demonstrations.  In the 
end, protestors blocked a key highway between Monterrey and 
Nuevo Laredo/Laredo for five hours, causing considerable 
delay to travelers.  The root causes for this dispute are 
undoubtedly local but Mexican Federal Labor Laws create the 
overall environment that makes it possible for disputes of 
this type to occur.  End Summary. 
 
 
SETTING THE SCENE 
----------------- 
 
¶2.  With the exception of the greater Mexico City 
metropolitan area, it would be hard to think of an entity in 
Mexico that is much more industrialized or business friendly 
than the state of Nuevo Leon.  In almost every sense 
imaginable one could easily and truthfully describe Nuevo 
Leon by paraphrasing the old adage by stating that the 
business of Nuevo Leon is business.  There are a number of 
cultural and historical reasons for this business friendly 
environment but one of the more significant factors 
contributing to this business friendly environment is the 
cooperative relationship that exists between Nuevo Leon,s 
private sector and its organized labor unions. 
 
¶3.  On the surface the relationship between the state,s 
private sector and organized labor unions appears to be a 
mutually beneficial exchange between near equals.  That 
appearance, however, is only surface deep.  The source of 
this outward show is the fact that Nuevo Leon,s private 
sector has been remarkably effective at creating their own 
company friendly/controlled unions; often referred to as 
&White unions.8  These &White Unions8 have been used by 
the state,s private sector to keep more traditional unions 
from growing too large or from being too aggressive (from the 
private sector,s perspective) in contract negotiations or at 
promoting worker rights (from the labor union,s perspective). 
 
¶4.  Mexican Federal Law allows a group as small as 20 workers 
to form a new union once the proper documents have been 
submitted.  GOM labor authorities are renowned for not 
looking too closely at these documents and Nuevo Leon,s 
private sector has taken full advantage of this GOM 
shortcoming to form an organized labor movement of their own 
liking.  The unions that form the company friendly organized 
labor movement can, and have been used to supplant more 
traditional unions in a wide variety of collective bargaining 
situations.  Consequently, the traditional unions are well 
aware that their freedom of action with regard to strikes and 
organizing activities are severely restricted by the 
knowledge a White Union is always waiting in the wings to 
replace them.  As a result, the focus of their energies for 
the more traditional unions is not so much negotiations with 
private employers on behalf of their members but rather 
competition with other traditional for advantage and growth 
at each other,s expense. 
 
 
UNION COMPETITON IN NUEVO LEON 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  Two of the oldest and largest private sector unions in 
Mexico are the CTM (Confederation of Mexican Workers) and the 
 
MEXICO 00000545  002 OF 003 
 
 
CROC (Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants). 
Both of these organizations are national level labor 
federations who actively compete with one another (and many 
other smaller unions) in a wide variety of areas.  Normally 
this rivalry is kept within peaceful and fairly well 
respected bounds but occasionally those bounds are broken and 
that is exactly what has happened over the past few weeks in 
Nuevo Leon. 
 
¶6.  Although conflicting accusations make it difficult to 
know what really happened it seems that the problem between 
the two competing labor organizations in Nuevo Leon started 
in early February when the CROC tried to exploit what may 
have been a significant failing on the part of the CTM. 
According to various press reports the flash point for the 
dispute occurred among the 1500 workers of the American 
Standard bathroom, plumbing and kitchen fixtures factory in 
Nuevo Leon. The CTM is the legal collective bargain agent for 
the workers at this plant but allegedly it has done little to 
promote the salaries, benefits or labor rights of the 
employees at the plant. 
 
¶7.  It is difficult to know if the allegations against the 
CTM are true but it is not uncommon in Mexico for a union to 
do little or nothing to earn the biweekly membership dues 
that it never fails to promptly collect.  In the case of the 
American Standards plant, it seems some of the workers were 
unhappy with their formal union representation and that the 
CROC learned of this and tried to persuade them to change 
labor affiliation.  Changing union affiliation is something 
that any worker is legally entitled to do under Mexican 
Federal Labor Law (FLL). 
 
¶8.  Unfortunately, the FLL also allows for unions to 
implement closed shop type rules where union membership is a 
prerequisite for holding a job.  Once the CTM found out some 
40 workers were trying to switch unions it expelled them from 
the organization and then, using Federal Labor Law, it 
insisted that American Standard,s management fire them. 
Rather than argue with the CTM on a point of relatively minor 
importance to them, American Standard,s management complied 
with the CTM,s request. The fired workers turned to the CROC 
for help and the labor federation tried, unsuccessfully, to 
intervene on their behalf with company management.  Once it 
became clear the CROC was unable to get the fired workers 
rehired it attempted win for them a reasonable severance pay 
package.  The argument between the CTM and the CROC about 
what should be done with or for the fired workers became 
heated and at some point one of the now unemployed workers 
was badly beaten, allegedly by people connected to the CTM. 
 
 
THE DISPUTE SPREADS 
-------------------- 
 
¶9.  Once the details of what happened to the beaten worker 
began to spread so did the dispute between the CTM and CROC 
in Nuevo Leon.  The open and unfettered competition began 
between the two labor federations soon moved from the 
relatively isolated events at the plumbing fixtures plants, 
to a series of (largely verbal) confrontations throughout the 
state.  The prize in the confrontations was often control of 
taxi routes.  The taxi route competition between drivers 
affiliated with the two unions became particularly heated at 
public commercial shopping centers and in areas in the 
state,s capital city where new neighborhood were being 
developed. 
 
¶10.  As the arguments between the two labor federations 
dragged on, the CROC demanded that the local authorities 
assist the fired workers and hold the CTM accountable for the 
worker who was badly beaten.  The authorities, response to 
the CROC,s demands was, in that union,s view, both 
ineffective and decidedly slanted in favor of the CTM.  This 
prompted the CROC to organize a series of demonstrations the 
most dramatic of which occurred on February 16 when some 70 
taxis affiliated with the union blocked the road to Nuevo 
Laredo (which is also leads to Laredo, TX) for five hours. 
The Nuevo Leon authorities were unable to persuade the CROC 
cabbies to lift their road block which only ended when a 
sustained rock throwing fight broke out between the drivers 
and members of the general public stranded on the road for 
hours by the blockage. 
 
MEXICO 00000545  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
 
STATE LEGISLATORS DEMAND ACTION 
------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  The rock throwing incident caused considerable dismay 
among the general public which in turn prompted calls for 
action from politicians from nearly all of the political 
parties represented in the state legislature.  Nuevo Leon is 
governed by the PRI, Mexico,s former ruling party which 
nationally is now one of the country,s two main opposition 
parties.  Some legislators speculated that state authorities 
had done little to resolve the dispute between the CROC and 
CTM because of a reluctance to alienate either labor 
organization both of whom are officially affiliated with the 
state,s current ruling party.  Ultimately the call for a 
settlement of the dispute by the public and by opposition 
state legislators has prompted both the CROC and the CTM to 
moderate their behavior.  A final resolution of the dispute 
has not yet been reached but both labor organizations have 
now talking to each other under the auspices of state labor 
authorities. 
 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶12.  The dispute between the CROC and the CTM in Nuevo Leon 
is undoubtedly a local disagree which will eventually be 
resolved locally.  That said, there are a number of national 
factors resulting from abuses of Mexican Federal Labor Law 
that contributed to this particular dispute.  The existence 
of &White Unions8, which weak application of FLL makes 
possible, has created an environment in more traditional 
labor unions believe they can only grow at each others 
expense.  FLL facilitation of closed shop type rules then 
worsened the restricted competition by the union in Nuevo 
Leon by allowing union membership as a prerequisite for 
employment.  These to examples are just some of the problems 
that make the overall labor environment in Mexico so 
complicated.  Sometime within the next few weeks the GOM is 
expected to send to the national legislature to a proposal 
for the first major overall of Mexican Federal Labor Law in 
decades (REF B). Unfortunately, the current law suits a 
variety of special interests in both the private and 
organized labor sectors and meaningful change may ultimately 
be difficult to achieve. 
 
¶13.  This message was cleared by AmConsul Monterrey. 
 
 
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