Mexico’s Labor Board Responds to Complaints from Squid Workers’ Supporters

February 11, 2008 - Thanks to the emails that you all have been sending in support of the squid workers in Santa Rosalia, at last the Mexican government is paying attention.

In Mexico there is a sub-office of the Federal Labor Board (la Junta Federal de Conciliación y Arbitraje) that is in charge of reviewing the work of public employees.  Because of the huge number of emails that we sent, denouncing the work of the head of the Labor Board in Baja California Sur for her mismanagement of the case of the fired Hanjin Mexico workers, the sub-office took the emails as a signal that the situation required a formal complaint.

The sub-office selected some of the people who had sent emails and then sent these people a letter as a response, informing them that they can file a formal complaint against the Labor Board staff person in charge of the case of the Hanjin Mexico workers, but they had to do so within 5 working days. 

Of course, the Labor Board takes more than 9 months to notify the corporations that they have a hearing and many times they don’t even notify the companies, but for us to file a complaint against the Board, they only give us 5 working days.

We are very pleased to know that for the first time we have the opportunity to confront government employees as defendants for mismanagement.

We know that a formal complaint against the Labor Board can be a double-edged sword:
*On the one hand, finally we can have a formal process to resolve the problem of the 92 fired workers, create a new precedent of taking government employees to trial, and ensure that they work with honesty and respect for the labor laws.

*On the other hand, we are concerned that this process will be assigned to the La Paz office of the Labor Board, the same office that we are complaining about, the same office in which the “defendant” has all the power.  It therefore would not be an impartial process.

Enlace and a few supporters have decided to continue forward in filing the formal complaint against the Labor Board.  We are requesting that the complaint be moved from La Paz to Mexico City.  We have also requested documents and records to assist in our case. 

Thank you for your support and we will keep you updated!