U.S. to Investigate Tijuana Labor Election Dispute

The U.S. Labor Department launched an investigation Monday of a frustrated attempt by Tijuana factory workers to create an independent union, a move that will mean deeper scrutiny of labor practices in Baja California’s growing maquiladora industry.

The independent union won a 54-34 majority of the votes in an election at the Han Young factory Oct. 6, but a dozen of its supporters have lost their jobs and the Tijuana labor board has refused to recognize the union.

The ill-fated union effort at Han Young, which manufactures chassis for Hyundai Precision America in San Diego, was cited by a dozen U.S. Congress members in their opposition to President Clinton’s recent bid for fast-track authority to negotiate new free-trade agreements.

They said the union dispute underscores their concerns about companies moving operations to nations with low wages and few worker safeguards, robbing Americans of jobs.

“We are very concerned about the seriousness of the allegations,” said Irasema Garza, secretary of the U.S. Labor Department’s national administrative office, which has reviewed seven previous complaints of labor practices in Mexico since the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect in 1994.

The Tijuana labor board rejected the independent union Nov. 10, saying the workers were ineligible to join the metalworkers union and that the union was not properly registered. Union advocates are appealing the decision.

Garza said her office, which has been monitoring the Han Young showdown since June, will study the legality of that decision, look into allegations of management improprieties during the election and discuss the case with the labor board and other Mexican officials.

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Han Young managers, who recently hired 15 new workers, said they were unaware of the inquiry.

“We have heard nothing about this,” said Wan Young Kung, the plant’s general manager. “The workers here are very happy, working very hard. The rest is rumors.”

The fired workers applauded the move.

“I’m very satisfied with this decision,” said Guadalupe Yanez, 59, who earned 85 cents an hour before he was fired from Han Young. “I want justice for our union movement. That means official recognition of our union and the return of our jobs.”

Past Labor Department reviews have not led to reinstatement of workers or prompted any other concrete redress. Trade sanctions can be invoked only if NAFTA partners--Mexico, Canada and the United States--are found in violation of their own domestic laws governing child labor, worker safety and minimum wages.

But previous reviews have culminated in public hearings, such as one scheduled in the Texas border city of Brownsville this week to look into a complaint that female Mexican maquiladora workers are often asked to take pregnancy tests before being hired.

If the Han Young dispute is aired publicly, San Diego is a likely venue, U.S. officials say.

“This provides an international forum,” said Irasema Garza. “The international community is watching. That kind of pressure makes governments respond.”

Peter Ahn, an administrator of Hyundai Precision America, did not return calls seeking comment. Luis Alberto Pelayo, director of the Baja Coastal Maquiladora Industry Assn., which represents half of Tijuana’s 600 maquiladoras--as light-industry assembly plants are known--declined to comment.

Labor board secretary general Carlos Perez Astorga could not be reached.

None of the 150,000 maquiladora workers in Tijuana belong to an independent union.

Like most of the nearly 1 million maquiladora workers in Mexico, the Tijuana workers--including those at Han Young--belong to government-linked unions they have no say in joining. The official unions are widely criticized as poor advocates for workers and are blamed for low salaries and poor working conditions.