Tijuana maquiladora labor strike deepens

Comments (0) By David Bacon Wednesday, Jun 3 1998

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Han Young parent company Hyundai Corporation has also become a target. When a Hyundai-owned cargo ship pulled up to the docks of Portland, Oregon, on June 13, it was met by a picket line organized by the city's Cross Border Organizing Committee. Prominent in the group were two workers from the Han Young plant, Miguel Sanchez Murillo and Ricardo Hernandez Hernandez.

As members of the local longshoremen union reported to work the ship, the two strikers and their supporters explained the issues. About 15 longshoremen already in the terminal decided to leave, and another dozen refused to cross the picket line when they arrived to work. One picketer was arrested as she sat in the road leading to the docks, and offloading of the Hyundai freight was delayed 24 hours. Other Hyundai shipments to the U.S. are bound for the Port of Los Angeles, where the company has a major facility.

The longshoremen action was followed on June 16 by coordinated demonstrations in 17 U.S. cities. Union federations in Brazil, Spain, Bangladesh, Canada and Mexico also protested the situation in Tijuana directly to the Mexican government.

Meanwhile, the Han Young strikers continue to organize demonstrations and marches throughout the city every day. They've turned the ruling PAN's election slogan "With a heart for Tijuana" into rude chants of "abusing workers with a heart" and "violating labor rights with a heart." In the working-class neighborhoods of the city, growing crowds answer back with laughter and cheers.