Help Mexico Teach North Carolina About Unions

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North Carolina is under new scrutiny for its poor labor standards, this time from a foreign government. Under a side accord in NAFTA called the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation, the Mexican government is challenging the state to implement collective bargaining rights for public sector workers. It has also requested a progress report on a recent inquiry by the International Labor Organization (ILO) into the state’s prohibition against bargaining.

Earlier this year, the ILO ruled that North Carolina’s failure to comply with “freedom of association principles...has resulted in grievous working conditions for many public sector workers.” It called on the U.S. to ratify and adhere to the ILO’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, which includes collective bargaining.

The campaign has brought together the Mexican trade union Frente Auténtico del Trabajo (FAT) and the United Electrical Workers (UE). Their challenge has garnered support from 53 co-signers, including community organizations and transnational labor groups like the global union federations for public workers and chemical, energy, and mine workers.

In North Carolina, Local 150 of the UE maintains a membership of 3,000. Composed mostly of low-wage workers such as janitors, garbage haulers, and groundskeepers for government offices, the union is fighting to change the law that deprives them of collective bargaining rights.

Help support coordinated efforts at the international and state levels by the UE, FAT, the Mexican government, and the ILO. A tax-deductible donation to support cross-border organizing projects can be made to the UE Research and Education Fund, One Gateway Center, Suite 1400, Pittsburgh, PA 15222-1416. For more information or to donate online.