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Dänk 42Ø
May 1, 2012, 1:50:44 PM5/1/12
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Workers' Rights and Forced Union Membership
By Dänk
01 May 2012
Twelve years ago today I arrived in Mexico City after an overnight bus
ride from Oaxaca. It was early in the morning, but already a huge crowd
had gathered at the Zócalo to hear President Zedillo speak.
The square was packed with tens of thousands of union members,
representing industries from textiles to petroleum, all holding placards
expressing support for the ruling PRI party (the PRI fell from power
later that year).
Despite Zedillo's inspiring cries of "Viva México!", few of the people
looked happy to be there. I later learned that in Mexico, labor unions
are an organ of the government, which means they are an organ of the
ruling political party. Rather than representing the interests of
workers, Mexican unions represent the interests of the ruling party and
the kleptocratic elite who prop it up.
Before the PRI fell in 2000, Mexicans who wanted to work were required
to join a labor union and pay mandatory union dues. They were also
required to attend the PRI's political rallies -- such as the one I saw
on May 1, 2000. Attendance was taken, and workers who did not attend
were suspended from work for days or weeks -- meaning starvation in a
country where the average wage is several dollars a day.
Mexican labor unions never served any purpose other than a source of
campaign money for the PRI, which rewarded the contributions with
kickbacks to the union bosses. Strikes were rare, since a company could
pay off the union boss to call off the strike, so strikes were generally
confined to companies owned by members of opposition parties.
If there is a point here, it is that unions are corrupt and useless in
representing the interests of workers. Rather than improving wages and
benefits, Mexican unions drove them down to the point where half the
people in the country are willing to risk their lives trying to escape
to take menial non-union jobs in the USA.
Furthermore, coercing membership in any group -- no matter how noble you
believe the cause to be -- is a violation of human rights. I have a
right to work without being forced to support a political party as a
condition of not starving. It does not matter whether I am forced to
formally join a union or just forced to pay dues that are contributed to
a political candidate or cause I may not agree with -- my rights have
still been violated.
By Dänk
01 May 2012
Twelve years ago today I arrived in Mexico City after an overnight bus
ride from Oaxaca. It was early in the morning, but already a huge crowd
had gathered at the Zócalo to hear President Zedillo speak.
The square was packed with tens of thousands of union members,
representing industries from textiles to petroleum, all holding placards
expressing support for the ruling PRI party (the PRI fell from power
later that year).
Despite Zedillo's inspiring cries of "Viva México!", few of the people
looked happy to be there. I later learned that in Mexico, labor unions
are an organ of the government, which means they are an organ of the
ruling political party. Rather than representing the interests of
workers, Mexican unions represent the interests of the ruling party and
the kleptocratic elite who prop it up.
Before the PRI fell in 2000, Mexicans who wanted to work were required
to join a labor union and pay mandatory union dues. They were also
required to attend the PRI's political rallies -- such as the one I saw
on May 1, 2000. Attendance was taken, and workers who did not attend
were suspended from work for days or weeks -- meaning starvation in a
country where the average wage is several dollars a day.
Mexican labor unions never served any purpose other than a source of
campaign money for the PRI, which rewarded the contributions with
kickbacks to the union bosses. Strikes were rare, since a company could
pay off the union boss to call off the strike, so strikes were generally
confined to companies owned by members of opposition parties.
If there is a point here, it is that unions are corrupt and useless in
representing the interests of workers. Rather than improving wages and
benefits, Mexican unions drove them down to the point where half the
people in the country are willing to risk their lives trying to escape
to take menial non-union jobs in the USA.
Furthermore, coercing membership in any group -- no matter how noble you
believe the cause to be -- is a violation of human rights. I have a
right to work without being forced to support a political party as a
condition of not starving. It does not matter whether I am forced to
formally join a union or just forced to pay dues that are contributed to
a political candidate or cause I may not agree with -- my rights have
still been violated.
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