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| Back row, left to right, UE Local 715 leaders Tim Whitney, Vice Pres. Pat Berry, Pres. Sean Wildrick, Randy Siebenaler and Randy Nester. Front row, Robin Alexander of UE, Juan Garcia, Hilario Nava, and Benedicto Martinez. |
During May Day week (April 30-May 6), UE hosted a delegation from Mexico's Frente Autentico del Trabajo (FAT) to Chicago. The group included FAT national leader Benedicto Martinez Orozco and two rank-and-file leaders from the newly-organized DMI auto parts plant - Juan Garcia de la Cruz and Hilario Nava Maldanado. On May Day, Martinez dedicated a plaque, in behalf of the FAT on Chicago's Haymarket monument. Over the weekend the FAT delegation, along with around 50 UE members, participated in the big Labor Notes Conference.
But May 2 was a special part of the trip, especially for the two DMI workers. On that day they traveled to Edon, Ohio -- about three hours east of Chicago -- to meet with UE Local 715 leaders, and toured the DMI plant there. This was a first for UE's 20-year-old solidarity alliance with the FAT. It was the first time that FAT members have visited a UE-represented plant of the same company they work for. At the Edon plant they met with the five-person UE local executive committee, met with the plant manager and discussed the outlook for the company and the auto industry, and toured the plant, comparing notes with UE members on machines, products and work methods.
Following the plant tour, the FAT members had dinner at the Acapulco Mexican Grill in nearby Hamilton, Indiana with UE members from Local 715, Local 735 (at Autoline in Butler, Indiana) and Local 770 (Hendrickson Truck Suspensions, Kendallville, Indiana.)
The DMI workers in Iztapalapa, Mexico (near Mexico City) organized three years ago to get out of a corrupt government-controlled union and become members of the FAT's metalworkers division, STIMAHCS. They won a labor board election, even though the process was heavily stacked against them, but the company stubbornly resisted recognizing and bargaining with the new democratic union. UE Local 715 members signed petitions and put pressure on the company. The Mexican union finally achieved a contract in January 2012. Read more about the contract here.
See more photos of the FAT members' visit to Ohio and Indiana here.
DMI is Diversified Machine Inc., a manufacturer of automotive parts with plants in Spain, France, and China, as well as Mexico and the U.S. Several of its plants, including Edon and Iztapalapa, were formerly owned by Metaldyne Inc.