The Electronics Industry Workers Coalition (Mexico) is extending a call for solidarity with the dismissed workers of the Nokia plant in Reynosa, Mexico.
The Electronics Industry Workers Coalition (Mexico) is extending a Call for Solidarity with the dismissed workers of the Nokia plant in Reynosa, Mexico:
“From November 2008 to January 2009, more than 1,800 workers of Nokia’s factory settled in Reynosa, Tamaulipas (México) had been dismissed. Nokia has been using the economic crisis (and the effect on the production) as an argument to explain the mass dismissal of workers without severance payment, required by Mexican law. In fact, at the moment of the dismissal, the workers were threatened and harassed: “If you don’t sign (the ‘voluntary’ resignation), we’ll put your name in the black list”; “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you!” All this pressure with the intention of getting the workers to sign the resignation forms.
The financial and economic crisis should not be an excuse to violate the labour rights of workers in México or anywhere else. Therefore, we, as Mexican workers, demand respect to the labour rights of the workers in the electronic industry and demand Nokia, Adecco and Manpower (the employment agencies used by Nokia to hire workers) full severance payment of our fellow colleagues of Reynosa, as well as medical coverage for seven of the women who got dismissed and are pregnant.
We also demand the Nokia workers union and its secretary general, Jesús V. Martínez Robles, not to be colluded with the company on these (or any) violations of the labour rights. And even if the workers were not asked if they wanted to be members of this union, we ask him and the union, at least, to be on the workers side and demand a fair severance payment to these workers that were fired.
The workers of the electronic industry in México call upon the solidarity of the workers of this sector around the world to join us in one voice and demand with our fellow colleagues of Reynosa:
- A permanent job for all Nokia workers.
- Full severance pay, as required by the Mexican Labour law.
- Medical coverage for the pregnant women who were dismissed (before, while and after delivering their baby).
- Nokia should be accountable for all its workers, hired directly or by an employment agency (such as Manpower and Adecco), as required by Mexican Labour Law (articles 12 to 15).
- Structural changes: no discrimination, equal treatment to workers hired directly and the ones hired by the agencies, no sexual harassment, no toxics used without protection, and respect to the labour rights of those colleagues still working for Nokia.
We appeal to you to be one voice and to make these demands our own demands. Their fight is also ours and their success will also be ours.
For more information and details, visit this interesting blog kept by Nokia workers.
