VZCZCXRO0862
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #2497/01 2271717
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141717Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2950
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUEHZA/ARA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MEXICO 002497 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL/AWH AND ILSCR, WHA/MEX AND USDOL FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON PGOV SOCI PINR MX
SUBJECT: TWO ERRANT LABOR FEDERATIONS RETURN TO THE FOLD 
 
REF: (A) MEXICO 1869 (B) 07 MEXICO 2388 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: In 2006 the CROC (Revolutionary Confederation of 
Workers and Campesinos) and the CROM (the Regional 
Confederation of Mexican Workers), respectively the third and 
fourth largest labor federations in Mexico, led a group of 
unions that withdrew from the Congress of Labor.  The 
Congress of Labor (CT) is the most influential umbrella group 
of labor organizations in Mexico.  The CROC and CROM left the 
Congress of Labor in a dispute over who would assume the 
leadership of the organization and had hoped to form their 
own multi-union labor association to compete with the CT. 
Now, after two years of trying to go it on their own, the 
CROC, CROM and several lesser unions that left the umbrella 
organization with them have rejoined the CT.  A variety of 
reasons have been mentioned for the decision by the errant 
federations to rejoin the CT ranging from a desire to support 
labor unity against the many problems facing Mexico,s 
organized labor movement to concerns that their relevance 
might be surpassed by an alliance between the teachers, and 
the petroleum workers unions (Ref A).  Reportedly the errant 
unions were accepted back into the CT without preconditions. 
A senior CT official indicated that not all members of the CT 
wanted to have errant unions back but in the end they acceded 
to a request from the GOM who, it appears, wants to have as 
many of the country,s larger unions in one forum as it 
presses forward with plans to launch a major reform of 
Mexico,s labor laws.  END SUMMARY 
 
 
THE CONGRESS OF LABOR 
--------------------- 
 
¶2.  The Congress of Labor (CT) is Mexico,s largest and most 
influential umbrella labor organization.  The CT is the body 
the Mexican government turns to when it wants to address 
issues affecting Mexico,s organized labor movement 
nationwide.  The CT was formed in 1966 with the blessing of 
the GOM and Mexico,s then ruling party, the Institutional 
Revolutionary Party (PRI). Since its formation all of the 
unions or federations that make up the CT have had direct and 
formal ties linking them to the PRI. 
 
¶3.  Although there are several large and important individual 
unions in the CT for the most part it is dominated by a 
collection of large national labor federations.  The more 
important of these federations are the Confederation of 
Mexican Workers (CTM), the Revolutionary Confederation of 
Workers and Farmers (CROC) and the Regional Confederation of 
Mexican Workers (CROM). Respectively these organization are 
the first, third and fourth largest labor federations in 
Mexico. (Note: The second largest federation is the National 
Workers Union ) UNT.  The UNT does not belong to the CT. 
Politically the UNT is informally affiliated with Mexico,s 
current main opposition party, the Party of the Democratic 
Revolution ) PRD). 
 
¶4.  The most significant individual unions in the CT are the 
National Teachers Union (SNTE), the National Union of Miners 
and Metalworkers (SNTMMSRM), the Petroleum Workers Union 
(STPRM) and the National Railroad Workers Union (STFRM). Each 
of these individual unions is recognized for some special 
role they plan within Mexico,s organized labor movement. The 
Teachers Union,s fame derives from being the largest 
individual union in Latin America with an estimated 1.5 
million members.  Alas, it is also viewed as being one of the 
main culprits responsible for what many believe is the poor 
state of public education in Mexico.  The Miners are known 
for the loyalty of many of its members but also for their 
combativeness with employers and for the alleged dishonesty 
of its national leader (currently living in Canada to escape 
prosecution for corruption charges).  The Railroad Workers 
Union is known because of the role it played in the 
successful privatization.  During that privatization Mexican 
railroads were transformed from a money-losing public 
transport system into a profit making cargo carrying system. 
The Railroad Workers Union is also known for its flamboyant 
leader, Victor Flores Morales.  In addition being the head of 
the STFRM, Flores has been a Federal Deputy (equivalent to US 
Congressman) twice and is a former President of the CT.  The 
Petroleum Workers Union is known for widespread corruption 
and for the excessive benefits (mostly for the union itself 
as opposed to union members) it has extracted from the GOM. 
 
MEXICO 00002497  002 OF 004 
 
 
 
 
LEADERSHIP DISPUTE FRACTURES LABOR ORGANIZATION 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶5.  Within the world of Mexican organized labor the 
presidency of the CT is an important and much sought after 
position of prestige and political power.  The leader of the 
CT is often the main interlocutor on labor issues with the 
President of Mexico.  The CT president is often viewed as the 
main national level spokesman for organized labor in 
particular and for Mexican workers in general.  Outside of 
the CT, the organization,s president is viewed by many 
politicians as a valuable ally able to mobilize the union 
vote.  Consequently, the leader of the CT is routinely sought 
out by elected officials and/or those hoping to win elected 
office. 
 
¶6.  In February 2006 the term of office of the then president 
of the CT, STFRM Secretary General Victor Flores Morales, was 
coming to an end.  There were several labor leaders in the 
umbrella organization who wanted to succeed Flores as CT 
president, the most insistent of whom was the Secretary 
General of the CROC, Isaias Gonzalez Cuevas.  Gonzalez 
lobbied hard to be the next CT president and won the 
unconditional support of the leaders of the CROM and of the 
Miners Union; respectively Ignacio Cuauhtemoc Paleta and 
Napoleon Gomez Urrutia.  Unfortunately for Gonzalez, Victor 
Flores decided that he was not yet ready to step down from 
the presidency of the CT.  Rather than surrender his position 
at the end of his term of office Flores engineered a one year 
extension to his mandate as President of the CT. 
 
¶7.  This move, while technically permitted by CT statues, was 
very ill-advised from the standpoint of labor unity. 
Moreover, Flores arranged the extension of his time CT 
presidency through a blatant exercise of political power 
within the organization.  This action, and the manner in 
which it was carried out, caused a fracture within the CT 
which ultimately led to confrontation and even limited 
incidences of violence between the supporters of Flores and 
Gonzalez.  As result of all this the CT and the errant group 
went their separate ways to such an extent that even though 
it never formally changed political party affiliation, the 
CROC went so far as to openly campaign (unsuccessfully) for 
the PRD, and against the PRI, in Mexico,s 2006 presidential 
elections. 
 
 
A MAYDAY WAKEUP CALL 
-------------------- 
 
¶8.  After two years of going it on their own the errant 
unions decided to rejoin the CT.  One prominent CTM official 
speculated to Mission Labor Counselor that this year,s May 1 
celebration may have prompted that decision by providing a 
wake-up call for many groups within Mexico,s organized labor 
movement.  As was the case last year (Reftel B), only more so 
this year, Mexico,s May 1, International Workers, Day, 
celebrations served as a stark reminder of the disunity that 
exists within the country,s organized labor movement.  The 
clearest indication of this was the fact that the three major 
factions within the organized labor movement (CT, the errant 
group and the UNT) all held separate celebrations.  The most 
important factor all of these celebrations held in common is 
that they were extremely poorly attended; even by many of the 
various national unions, and federations, leaders who did 
not even bother to show up. 
 
¶9.  The good old days of labor unity, between the GOM and 
organized labor, and among labor unions themselves, ended 
with Mexico,s 2000 presidential elections when the PRI was 
defeated for the first time in its 70 year plus history. 
From that time on, the Mexican government, now ruled for the 
second consecutive time by the National Action Party (PAN), 
began distancing itself from the International Workers, Day 
celebration hosted under the auspices of the country,s 
organized labor movement.  At first the government declined 
to attend the May celebrations but normally invited the 
leaders of the country,s largest labor unions to some highly 
publicized event, normally held at the official residence, 
&Los Pinos8 (the Mexican White House). Last year, Mexican 
President, Felipe Calderon declined to associate himself in 
any way with the May Day events.  This year even the GOM,s 
 
MEXICO 00002497  003 OF 004 
 
 
Secretary of Labor minimized his association with the May Day 
celebrations. 
 
¶10.  With the PRI,s fall from power, the labor movement 
elements tied to it saw a rapid acceleration of a number of 
debilitating factors (increased part-time hiring, 
outsourcing, the growth of the informal economy, job lost due 
to global competition and mass migration to the US) that had 
already begun to take a toll.  Over the past 10-15 years the 
factors negatively impacting the unions caused them to lose 
membership and resources.  This lost of members and funds 
prompted the different elements of Mexico,s organized labor 
movement to reassess their relationship with the PRI and with 
each other.  This divergence of interests was on stark 
display in this year,s International Workers,/Labor Day 
festivities on May 1.  Faced with another year in which the 
entire country saw the level of disunity within Mexican 
organized labor many organizations began to stake stock of 
just how far the movement had fallen. 
 
¶11.  A few weeks later, on May 30, the movement as a whole 
faced the possibility of being fractured into even more 
separate groupings when the leaders of the Teachers, Union 
(SNTE) and the Petroleum Workers Union (STPRM) announced an 
alliance to promote &A New Labor Policy in Mexico8 (Ref A). 
 Reportedly, some 40 other smaller unions joined the teachers 
and the petroleum workers to help advance this proposal.  The 
formal purpose of the alliance was to serve as a discussion 
and analysis group to review the problems facing Mexican 
workers but many labor observers in Mexico suspected that its 
formation was the first step in a move to create a new labor 
organization to compete with the CT.  It now seems the 
alliance will not amount to much but the fact that two such 
powerful unions, both formally part of the CT, went outside 
the organization in order to address various concerns further 
disturbed many within Mexico,s organized labor movement. 
 
 
GOM ENCOURAGED UNITY 
-------------------- 
 
¶12.  According to what one of the CT Vice Presidents told 
Mission Labor Counselor, the idea of allowing the errant 
unions to rejoin the umbrella labor organization was a 
subject that had been discussed off and on for months. 
Apparently the main problem preventing their return was that 
many of the unions still in the CT did not want them back. 
The errant unions were viewed as sore losers for not 
accepting the defeat of their nominee for CT president and as 
disloyal for first trying to take over the organization by 
force; and then for leaving the labor grouping altogether. 
The negotiations to allow the errant unions back into the 
labor organization involved considerable discussions on 
having them pay some type of penalty for having left the CT. 
For their part, the errant unions wanted to save face and 
hoped to get something to show that they were not returning 
to the CT hat in hand asking for forgiveness. 
 
¶13. Ultimately both sides reportedly agreed to drop any and 
all pre-conditions on allowing the return of the errant 
unions.  This agreement on no pre-conditions was not done for 
altruistic any reasons.  In the end, the errant unions were 
(reluctantly) allowed back into the labor fold at the request 
of the GOM. 
 
¶14.  Almost since taking office Mexican President Felipe 
Calderon,s administration has stated that one of its 
priorities is a major reform of the country,s labor laws. 
Enacting any significant reform of Mexico,s labor laws will 
require a change in the country,s constitution. 
Constitutional change in Mexico, relatively speaking, is far 
easier than a similar change would be in the US.  That said, 
it is still not something the GOM would undertake lightly. 
As of yet the GOM has not formally provided any specific 
details on the types of labor reforms it hopes to enact. 
This lack of specific details notwithstanding many of 
Mexico,s larger unions and federations has already expressed 
strong opposition to any reform that would change the 
constitution.  The GOM knows that concerted opposition from 
organized labor movement could block its plans for reform. 
Consequently, it appears the GOM is promoting greater labor 
unity so there will be fewer points of potential opposition 
when it is finally prepared to officially release its reform 
proposals. 
 
MEXICO 00002497  004 OF 004 
 
 
 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶15.  The return of the errant unions to the Congress of Labor 
is a noteworthy event for Mexico,s organized labor movement. 
 Together, the CROC, CROM and the unions that supported them 
jointly form a significant part of unionized workers in 
Mexico.  With them back in the Congress of Labor and with the 
apparent non-event of the Teachers, and the Petroleum 
Workers Unions alliance the CT represents the overwhelming 
majority of all organized workers in Mexico.  The only 
sizable groupings of unionized works in the country that do 
not belong to the CT are those affiliated with the UNT 
(National Workers Union).  The UNT and their allies in the 
PRD, Mexico,s main opposition party, are unlikely to support 
the labor reform proposals of President Calderon,s PAN 
administration no matter what shape the final details 
ultimately take.  That being the case, by having a unified, 
PRI affiliated, CT with whom it can negotiate the GOM is 
increasing the possibility that its reform proposals will 
received important opposition party support when it is 
finally presented to the Mexican Congress. 
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 / 
BASSETT