Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 18:24:23 -0800 Subject: Kuk Dong Update; 39 Workers allowed to return to work! From: Leila Salazar <leila at globalexchange.org>
Good News from Evelyn with USAS:
Hey everyone...here is an update from our companer at s in Mexico. I would strongly recommend signing up to the Kukdong list to get regular updates as well as strategize with folks across the country.
Just send an email to kukdong-moderator at yahoogroups.com or nsteffan at indiana.edu to suscribe.
February 19, 2001 Update from struggle at Kuk Dong factory in Atlixco de Puebla, Mexico: 39 Kuk Dong Workers Successfully Return to Work, Previously Fired Leaders Required to Sign Individual Contracts
Thirty-nine Kuk Dong workers, including two of the leaders of the independent union organizing effort whose illegal firings precipitated the original strike at Kuk Dong in early January, arrived at the factory early this morning to demand their unconditional reinstatement. Representatives from Nike, Reebok and the Korean International Solidarity House were present during the negotation of the worker´s reinstatement and their enterance into the factory received live coverage on local radio. There was considerable confusion mid-morning about the terms under which the workers would be allowed to return to work, as leaders Josefina Hernandez Ponce and Marcela Muñoz were sent back outside to wait after refusing to sign affiliation papers for the FROC-CROC. The Nike observer reportedly responded to the pressure workers felt to sign affiliation to the FROC-CROC by saying that "The FROC-CROC had every right to tell the the workers to sign the collective contract beacause they had won a colective contract over the company." By mid-day, however, an agreement was reached with all parties present (returning workers, Kuk Dong management, Reebok observers, Nike observer, FROC-CROC representatives, and observers from the Korean International Solidarity House). Under the agreement all returning workers, with the exception of the five leaders whose firings precipitated the January work stoppage, are to be reinstated unconditionally and with their senority. The leaders will also be allowed to return to work with their orginal salaries, according to the agreement, but will not be immediately reinstated to their positions as supervisors (but rather as operators) and will have to sign individual contracts with the company. Ivan de Erick Diaz Xolo who has been isolated from other workers since returning from the work stoppage was told today that he will be allowed to return to the floor but will also have to sign an individual contract with the company. Today´s unconditional reinstatement of more than thirty-five workers, and subsequent compliance with the agreement, is an important step in the struggle of the Kuk Dong workers.
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