VZCZCXYZ0003
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHME #3385/01 3191727
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141727Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3986
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS MEXICO 003385 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL/AWH AND ILSCR, WHA/MEX, USDOL FOR ILAB/OCFT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI KTIP MX
SUBJECT: NOMINATION FOR IQBAL MASIH AWARD ) MEXICO 
 
REF: STATE 120132 
 
 
 
Embassy Mexico City hereby nominates the CROC (Revolutionary 
Confederation of Workers and Farmers), Mexican labor 
federation for the Iqbal Masih award in recognition of its 
efforts to reduce the worst forms of child labor.  The 
following information is keyed to paragraph 9 of Reftel: 
 
 
A)  Name: CROC -- Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and 
Farmers 
 
B)  Address: Hamburgo No. 250 
         Esq. Con Sevilla 
         Mexico, DF  06600 
         Tel: 52-55-5208-5444 
         Email: crocmodel@hotmail.com 
 
C)  Executive Summary:  The CROC is the third largest private 
sector labor federation in Mexico.  It has affiliate unions 
across the full spectrum of Mexico,s private sector but it 
is best known for its strong presence in the businesses that 
make up the country,s tourist industry.  The most important 
of these elements, with respect to this nomination, are in 
the areas of hotels, restaurants and ground transportation 
(specifically taxi cab companies). CROC affiliated unions are 
the dominate labor organizations in Mexico,s Yucatan 
peninsula often referred to as the &Rivera Maya8.  This 
region contains the internationally renowned tourist areas of 
Cancun, Playa del Carmen and the Island of Cozumel.  The CROC 
is also very strong in many of Mexico,s other tourist 
locations such as Cabo San Lucas and other places along the 
country,s pacific coast. 
 
As a labor organization the CROC prides itself on having 
adopted a philosophy it calls &social unionism8.  This 
philosophy recognizes that workers are only on their jobs 
eight hours a day and that during the remaining 16 hours they 
were ordinary citizens concerned for the welfare of Mexico. 
The CROC,s idea of &social unionism8 has many components 
but one of its main elements is an ongoing initiative to 
combat the worst forms of child labor in Mexico,s tourist 
industry. 
 
According to the &Infantia Foundation8 a Mexican NGO that 
focuses on children,s issues, in the last five years a half 
million children and adolescents have formally been reported 
as missing in Mexico and that only 20 per cent of these 
children have ever been found. Partly as a result of this, an 
NGO spokesperson said, an internet search for the phrase 
&sexual paradise8 would show that Mexico is now rated 
number three worldwide in terms of this form of abusive child 
labor. 
 
Because of its philosophy of social unionism the CROC is very 
aware of the problem of sexual tourism in Mexico and long ago 
decided to do something about this situation.  Since the 
CROC,s membership is heavily represented in Mexico,s hotel 
and restaurants industries the union realized that they have 
an excellent vantage point from which to fight against this 
form of child labor.  Consequently, the CROC undertook the 
responsibility of training its members so that they could 
begin to do something about the problem of children in the 
commercial sex trade. 
 
What the CROC is doing is holding an ongoing series of 
seminars to education volunteer union members about the 
extent of this form of child labor and what they can do to 
combat it.  These volunteers ultimately serve as trainers for 
their co-workers in their respective places of employment. 
The volunteers are taught how to spot and how to report 
suspected incidents of child exploitation to the proper 
authorities in such a way as to ensure an appropriate 
response from local law enforcement authorities since Mexican 
law is very specific as to who can report these types of 
incidents and under what circumstances before the police are 
allowed/obligated to investigate the suspected crime. 
 
In organizing these seminars the CROC has obtained assistance 
from the GOM,s Secretariat of Labor, the International Labor 
Organization (ILO), the Inter-American Regional Labor 
Organization (ORIT), the DIF (the national family/child 
welfare agency), UNICEF and COPARMEX (a national private 
sector employers association roughly comparable to the US 
Chamber of Commerce). Since 2006, and with the cooperation of 
these national and international organizations, the CROC has 
trained approximately 500 volunteers capable of training 
other union members in the procedures on how to stop and how 
properly report suspected incidents of the worst forms of 
child labor in Mexico,s tourism industry. 
 
Taking on the task of combating this form of child labor is 
not something that the CROC was in any way compelled to do. 
Nevertheless it has fully committed itself to this 
undertaking and has obtained important assistance in this 
endeavor from both national and international organizations. 
An initiative of this type can and is making a difference 
here in Mexico.  Winning the recognition that the Iqbal Masih 
award represents would do a great deal to help the CROC gain 
the support of other organizations and perhaps even 
governmental agencies in the ongoing challenge to one day 
eliminate this form of child labor. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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