As Man Eegee pointed out in his diary on Russell Pearce this morning, the immigration furor does nothing to address the “underlying economic issues that are plaguing the lower classes of all the nations.” National boundaries mean nothing to corporations. They are simply another factor to be evaluated in maximizing profits. If it is more profitable to be an “American” company, fine, let’s do it. Otherwise, set up off-shore or move the “home office” to other country.
But workers do not have the same options. They are bound to their native countries. The anti-immigration rhetoric uses loaded, emotional language to pit the workers of America against workers from outside the country. Who benefits? Neither set of workers, of course. These are the same tactics historically used by the Klan to turn poor whites against poor blacks. Controlling labor is the key issue.
A key question seems to be, How can workers unite across international boundaries to attempt to exert some pressure on globally transient corporations? I’m not as widely informed on the contemporary labor scene as others here. Are there on-going efforts toward this end? What overtures are being being made to Chinese workers? Any hope for a new IWW? How has the EU affected worker mobility across national lines in Europe?
China might be difficult — though I believe nothing is impossible.
Mexico, however…
American corporations have already outsourced a fair bit of manufacturing to Mexico, while also targeting Mexico as the ripest of new foreign markets to keep their profits rising, especially since NAFTA prevents any protective tariffs or limits to “free” trade. (for example, more than 8,000 food and beverage processing companies currently have operations in Mexico, generating over half a million jobs and manufacturing more than 20,000 different products, according to the Business Registry of the Mexican Secretariat of Economy….)
I admit I know nothing of the labor movement within Mexico, but given how their last election went (even assuming the results were close to accurate, which as we know is not guaranteed), if there aren’t already folks trying to unionize and organize, I’d be surprised. The conditions there all but cry out for it… and to support such a movement there for workers’ rights would benefit both countries in the long run.
Although many are very corrupt. The Oaxaca crisis that Manny mentions below began as a strike of the teachers union. Just this past spring, there was a union strike at mines owned by Grupo Mexico (think Carlyle group) that became violent and resulted in fatalities when federal agents tried to break it. Later all the miners were fired, with government complicity. I know that the auto workers here in Mexico are unionized, and have successfully negotiated for higher wages and benefits. However, I think most of the maquiladoras are not unionized.
The current PAN government is clearly anti union and I expect there will be a great deal of union busting in the next 6 years.
Mexico already has very strong worker protection laws, which, however are not always enforced. However there has been talk about revising the constitution here, and I’m sure many of those protections will disappear. The corporations are complaining that Mexico isn’t competitive enough because of these laws, which indeed do make it harder/expensive to fire workers, among other provisions.
Corporate power has its own lobbyist running our country with the Bush administration in the White House. I’m not surprised that corporate power is taking aim on workers in Mexico.
“Competitiveness” is usually a buzz word for driving down working conditions, pay and benefits. Oddly enough,”competitiveness” also seems to require executive pay to enter low-earth orbit.
I’m embarassed to say that I had forgotten about the teacher strike that sparked the Oaxaca crisis. Mining has a rich (and violent) union history worldwide. As regards the PAN union-busting you predict, it would parallel the union-busting of the Republicans here in the states.
As I understand the situation in China, the unions that exist are part of the Party structure, not unions in the Western sense. But it is clear that China is undergoing great changes and my information about Chinese unions goes back to undergrad days. China seems to trying to introduce capitalism while maintaining a tight, central political control. I don’t know how worker rights will play out in that envirnoment. We shall surely see, as China is becoming a larger and larger part of the world’s economy.
Great questions, ones I wish would be asked by elected officials with the intent that the worker be protected over the corporations (yes, I’m aware of the odds)
If you haven’t had a chance, check out the developments in Oaxaca that have picked up steam recently. I recommend The Unapologetic Mexican‘s post or BooTribber XicanoPwr‘s coverage.
Thanks for the connections. I already enjoy XicanoPwr’s diaries. I am not familiar with The Unapologetic Mexican’s post, but I’ll look it up.
Right HERE!!!
The Browning of America.
VAYA!!!
AG
The issue with Mexico is our making (NAFTA). It has ruined the subsistence farm economy which has forced peasants off the land into cities and into the US.
I detail how this has happened in this short essay (most of it is charts):
Immigration “Facts” Debunked
As for the IWW: they are still around and recently won the right to represent a group of workers at a local Starbucks:
http://www.iww.org/
Whether they can ever become a real force is another matter…
Big unions like the AFL/CIO are trying to work with those in other countries, but it is difficult when the governments and business on both sides are opposed to workers rights.