Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
My name is Elizabeth Calvillo Reynoso,
I'm 26 years old and work as a call centre operator
for a Walmart campaign.
The reason I was dismissed is because I joined
a real union
- branch 187 of the Telephonists' Union.
I decided to join this union after finding out that my company
had registered a company-backed "protection" union with the labour authorities,
with which they report a basic monthly salary of between
4,412 and 6,888 pesos,
when in fact, as you can see from this payslip,
which is up-to-date, the workers receive
monthly pay of 2,888.
Ever since we started to organise
at this call centre
we have been the victims of harassment and intimidation at work,
which has resulted in many of our colleagues
resigning or being unfairly dismissed.
Hello, my name is Claudia Quijas.
I'm Mexican, I'm 40 years old
and I'm a flight attendant for Aviación de México.
I'm a member of the Mexican flight attendants union Sindicato de Sobrecargos de México.
My testimony here is about
the company I work for, which has been
process of debt restructuring over the last two years
due to mismanagement by its owners.
We are keeping up the fight to make them respect
our labour rights and
to give us our redundancy pay
or start up the company again.
This company pioneered the tourism industry in Mexico. Thank you.
My name is Erick Agustín Contreras,
I'm 21 years old, I'm single
and the issue I want to raise is the fact that the wages
paid in Mexico are very low.
The minimum wage that the government sets with
employers is really low, so
it's not enough for me to live on as a single person.
My future is uncertain.
I wonder how I would manage if I ever got married
or had a family; my money wouldn't stretch that far...
My name is Ana Rosario Flores Martínez,
I'm 32 years old.
I work at a petrol station.
I want decent pay, decent work
and respect for my work colleagues,
petrol pump attendants.
I want the authorities - in this case the Local
and Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board -
to respect the workers' decision to choose
a union that is independent and respects the workers.
Good afternoon, my name is Gustavo Velázquez Gómez.
I'm a telephonist.
In 2009, we decided that we should organise
to fight for the independence of our union,
given that the current structure is a corrupt company union...
there has been a wave of dismissals, affecting about 150 workers.
So we decided to organise
and requested that the Labour Minister "take note" (of the union officers elected),
which it did,
in June 2009.
In November, we decided to ask for recognition as the collective bargaining agent,
but we've still not been allowed to hold a ballot.
We are demanding the reinstatement of all our colleagues,
around 150 in total, that have been dismissed. Thank you very much.
My name is Juan Mora Carbajal,
I'm 28 years old.
I work in the slaughter area
of a meat products firm.
I have in fact been unfairly dismissed by the company
and I would like it to respect the ruling
issued by the Federal Board of the Arbitration Council
and to reinstate not only myself but the other workers, over 30 in total,
who have been suspended from the company.
My name is Verónica,
I'm 28 years old and my job with
the company involves cutting wood
to make doors and floors.
My grievance is that our boss signed a "protection contract" (a bogus collective agreement),
without informing us, which is why we
organised and joined a union so that it could defend our rights
before the Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board of the State of Mexico,
as the company would not provide us with the information we'd requested
and refused to grant us a collective agreement.
We asked for recognition as the collective bargaining agent and the Conciliation Board
was very slow to respond. Almost 11 months went by before
it gave us a first hearing and ruled that a ballot should be held.
We then had to vote in an open ballot in front of
our boss and the company-sponsored union.
We had to vote for this union against our will,
as we were afraid of being dismissed.
Our demand is for the authorities to be more impartial
and to genuinely apply Mexican law and jurisprudence.