Mexican authorities storm copper mine strikers and the reprecussions that will be felt here in the U

http://anti-union.blogspot.com/2008/01/mexican-authorities-storm-copper-mine.html

Sunday, January 20, 2008

I read this article in the Peoples Weekly World, it explains the struggle of the workers, the war between the union and the owner Grupo Mexico, which has extensive ties with US corporations, the safety violations and death toll. And the impact on the US if the union in Mexico is broken.

When the miners union lost its strike in Cananea in 1998, in which it tried to stop the elimination of hundreds of jobs, blacklisted strikers poured into Arizona in the months that followed. If the current strike is put down, the union broken and its leaders and activists terminated, they too will likely find themselves in Phoenix, Tucson or Los Angeles, hungry and desperate for work.
Read the Full Story

Didn't Bill Clinton state that NAFTA was supposed to lift the Mexican working people up to the US labor standards? Looks like with all foreign trade pacts, the anti-worker legislation that has been put into place since Taft-Hartly and the inability to get any agency to do it's job(OSHA,ICE,etc.), we as Americans workers are quickly dropping our standards to that of the lifestyle of a pre-1900 worker. Think about it, most of us rely on overtime to make ends meet (ask the $24,000 a year new NYPD employee), while the wages have not paralleled the cost of living. There goes the 40 hour week, and weekends while your at it. What about minimum wage and child labor? Don't think thats happening, CVS, one of the largest Pharmaceutical Big-Boxes, has just been investigated and found guilty for massive child labor violations in 6 different states. Minimum wage, here in NYC in a great portion of the nonunion construction field, many workers are paid off the books for below the minimum wage, for no overtime pay, up to 60 hours a week. We aren't touching on the fact that the big companies are raising their prices in a most despicable way, smaller packaging for the same price. The 11 ounce pound of coffee, the 1.5 liter 2 liter bottle of coke, the new 12 ounce package of Jimmy Dean Sausages (down from 16oz.), I was talking about this and I reached "even eggs" and one of the co-workers I was speaking to shouted out "what do they give you 11 now", which broke the tension nicely. Speaking of breaking tension, take a look at the humor news from the Onion titled "Illegal Immigrants Returning To Mexico For American Jobs" which unfortunately, hits the nail on the head almost as much this: Gap Unveils New 'For Kids By Kids' Clothing Line

http://www.theonion.com/content//node/61443?utm_source=embedded_video_2

Nothing going to change with those rw elites and their thugs running that country. But this time they will have more support from the other Latin American countries that have gone left. It will be a lot harder to steal it this time.