Years of Living Dangerously--The Mexican Union

Nuevo Laredo had a tough time in the 1980’s attracting maquiladoras because of a lingering threatening image of the local union, and especially because of the negative reputation of its’ boss, Pedro Perez Ibarra. These fears stemmed from the demise of the Nuevo Laredo Transitron plant in the 1970’s –attributed to hostile relations with the CTM Union. The Sony Corporation had taken a chance, in 1980, and established a maquiladora headed by soft spoken, Jerry Brochin, who had been successfully running a Springfield Wire maquila in the city. Jerry’s positive attitude toward the union was very instrumental in the decision by General Motors to locate in Nuevo Laredo. To facilitate this decision, a meeting was arranged to have Tony Paris meet with the union leader, and receive assurances that the GM plant would not be “bothered” by a union contract so long as Mexican Labor Laws were followed. This accomplished, I was given the task of dealing with the union, following the Mexican Labor Law provisions, but ignoring the part of the same law that required a written contract!

Pedro Perez Ibarra was known as “El Professor” because he had once been a 6^th grade teacher. He had progressed to the level of a “cacique”, or union boss, with powers reaching far beyond labor issues. The Professor had a resume that included the positions of federal congressman, state legislator, city councilman, head of the State of Tamaulipas Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), while, at the same time, being the Secretary General (boss) of the Nuevo Laredo union. The CTM, nationally, was the strongest part of the three sections of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (or PRI).

The Professor had control of not only the unions, but also the politicians in the City. He first over extended his power on Tuesday, February 21, 1984. Carmina Danini of the San Antonio Express reported that on “Black Tuesday---mobs of young people destroyed his house and other property, including a newspaper he owned, set cars on fire and wounded three people”. The violence was a reaction to a city-wide general strike, called by the Professor, which had paralyzed Nuevo Laredo for 24 hours. The National CTM labor leader, Don Fidel Velazquez, flew to the city, and successfully managed, or ordered, the return of the Professor’s power.

Pedro Perez Ibarra’s final public protest occurred in November, 1992. He led a sizable crowd to rally support against a recently imposed Federal order limiting the dollar amount of U.S. merchandize that could be brought back to Mexico by citizens of Nuevo Laredo. This time, his followers (or more likely, government embedded agents) sacked and burned Mexican Federal Government offices at both downtown international bridges—with damage estimated at U.S.$20 million. The Professor fled to Laredo, Texas, not to return to Nuevo Laredo until shortly before his death at age 87 on August 30, 2006.

After Pedro Perez Ibarra’s career demise in 1992, I felt it was time to have a legal union/management labor contract in hand. I borrowed, as a template, the existing labor contract in effect next door at the GM Packard Electric plant (later to become “Delphi”). Packard Electric had arrived in Nuevo Laredo in 1985, and had quickly expanded sister plants in Monterrey and farther south. I simplified their contract as much as feasible, and reached agreement with the Delredo shop committee—the three union shift “delegates”. By 1993, the Professor had been replaced as head of the Nuevo Laredo CTM Unions by Senior Jose Maria Morales—known as “Chema”. He was a pleasant, likeable man, and popular in the city as head of the restaurant workers union. Unfortunately, my first encounter with him was over the discharge of three of our union workers.

Delredo had never had a union strike. All of our neighboring automotive parts plants—Packard Electric, Ford (Lamosa), and an aluminum foundry, CMI, had suffered some walk-outs. An official union strike in Mexico is unlike that in the U.S. The union files the official paperwork with the appropriate Mexican government officials, the strike is legally declared, and the doors of the plant are barred shut. Once the strike starts, no one is allowed into the plant, and anyone inside the plant is not permitted, by law, to leave. One fall afternoon, one of our employees had his car stolen from the plant parking lot. He became so upset, he and two others, convinced the employees working on the then second shit to leave their machines and congregate in the cafeteria. My Personnel Supervisor, Manuel Lope, went to the assembled group, and convinced them to go back to work after about 40 minutes. The three union delegates were not present in the plant that day, but were attending a union convention out of town. As a result of this “wild cat”, or unofficial work stoppage, we fired the three instigators. When “Chema” and I first met, a few days later, he asked that the three fired employees be re-instated. When I refused, he left my office somewhat angry, but friendlier relations were established over the next weeks.

Manuel Lope and I were able to “smooth” matters over with Chema through numerous future meetings—more social in nature than anything pertaining to business. We became regular patrons of Chema’s favorite downtown Nuevo Laredo café for breakfast, and made a habit of meeting him, when we had to discuss union matters, at his office or at other restaurants he frequented. From 1993, until I left Mexico in 2004, we had a good working relationship, talked frequently about mutual friends on both sides of the river, and attended many union dinners and social events. At the same time, the union benefited from the continued success of the Delredo plant, with increased wages and benefits.

One huge benefit of working with strong union leaders in Mexico was a sense of personal security. Yes, you were still subject to petty crime (I once had my trunk reconfigured with a sledge hammer while parked in front of the plant), but you knew the union boss (“Jefe”) controlled the police as well as the Municipal politicians and bureaucrats. Late one evening in November, 1984, I received a call from Manuel Lope that our Delredo Security Chief had been arrested and taken to the Nuevo Laredo Police Headquarters. I had recently been introduced by the Professor to the Mayor of Nuevo Laredo, and I knew the Mayor was at a “Teacher Day” recognition function at the Lion’s Club in Nuevo Laredo. Meeting Manuel there—at about 11:00 pm, we talked to the Mayor, and he sent his personal assistant with us to get our man released. At the Police Headquarters we found our Security Chief, Raul De la Rosa, sitting in a holding room which featured several prominent holes, about the size of a human head, in the surrounding walls! Raul had earlier completed a successful “stake-out” at Delredo, catching two of our Security Guards stealing office supplies. We had our guards arrested (a mistake in hindsight), but they proceeded to have their cohorts pay the police to have Raul arrested as a “witness”. At the Assistant to the Mayor’s direction, Raul was sprung just after mid-night.

General Motors' First Manufacturing Plant in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico

"On September 16, 1981, I was in Nuevo Laredo for the ground breaking ceremony at the plant site. Our supervising GM construction engineer, Art Collins, and our purchasing agent, Herb Ball were there with me. We had driven to the plant site on unpaved Nuevo Laredo roads—with promises having been secured that a paved road would soon reach our site in Nuevo Laredo’s first industrial park.  This was the time of  Ronald Reagan, the “Urban Cowboy" movie, disruptive years of the 80’s. We wanted to be the “Texans” of the movies—and we enjoyed wearing cowboy boots and jeans to work; going to honky tonks at night, and legally driving down Texas highways drinking beer. Governor Ann Richards had not yet civilized Texas, and driving distances were still measured by how many beer bottles you needed in your cooler to reach your destination without thirst.

. In 1981, GM had already constructed four maquiladora plants in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, and three plants in Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas. El Paso is 600 miles from Laredo, and Laredo is 200 miles from Brownsville—all three cities situated on the Rio Grande River. The Rio Grande is known as the Rio Bravo in Mexico—and since both names are in Spanish, I have never been able to discover why the difference. In terms of distances between the cities, El Paso is nearer Los Angeles, California, than it is to Brownsville. Laredo was chosen by GM primarily so as not to have too large a presence in any one city. GM had gone through a “southern strategy” during the 1970’s of trying to have union free plants in the U.S.. They had built plants in Mississippi, Georgia, and Louisiana—trying to keep out the UAW and IUE unions that populated GM plants in the North, and to thereby reduce wages and work rule related costs. The southern strategy cracked when a GM plant in Monroe, La., voted for UAW representation, and the domino effect took hold—with all the other GM southern plants becoming unionized. GM’s new strategy in the 80’s was a deep southern strategy—Mexico. To avoid wage pressures by Mexican unions, GM did not want a concentration of its plants in any one Mexican city—thus Nuevo Laredo got its opportunity to be home to GM’s newest plant in 1981.

The plant in Nuevo Laredo was named “Delredo”-- a combination of the GM Division’s name, Delco Products, and Laredo. It sounded great to the English only speakers in Ohio and Michigan. Unfortunately, Delredo, sounds like the name for a bar to Spanish speakers. After some initial recruiting problems—because of the plant’s name, the locals accepted “Delredo” as a maquiladora, and it lasted for 17 years until it was changed in 1998.

Delredo was built on 10 acres of virgin desert like land in less than a year--quick for a plant built of pre-stressed concrete sections with 165,000 square feet of floor space. Production shipments of strontium ferrite magnets, for use in automotive electrical motors, started in August of 1981".-- from "Maquiladora" by E.C. Sherwood

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　



　



　

Laredo's First Annual International Auto Show

Twenty years ago I organized a General Motors Auto Show for two years. Both were held at large logistics warehouses in Northwest Laredo, but the crowds exceeded all expectations! The first year, along with new GM vehicle models, we had the "Sun Racer"--the solar powered GM car that won a solar race across Australia. The second year we had a NASCAR replica of Tom Cruise's "Days of Thunder" movie racing car. I think we might have also had free beer--that probably helped attendance. Well, now in 2012, on Friday, 9-21, and Saturday, 9-22, will be a really exciting International Auto Show, free to the public, at the new Laredo Unitrade Stadium. No free beer this time, but free parking. New 2013 vehicles from 13 Manufacturers, representing 7 countries, will be on display! Food and refreshments will also be available from booths maned by volunteers from Habitat for Humanity of Laredo Webb County. The good folks from Habitat will have a share of the concession proceeds to help them provide decent affordable housing. Law enforcement agencies will also have their specialized vehicles on display. So a good time for all is about to happen--check the Laredo Morning Times and Guerra Communication stations Z93 and FM98 for details.

The DallasCowboy Cheerleaders and Laredo

This is an exciting week as Kelly Janelle Sherwood of Laredo is one of 30 newcomer finalists for the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders! Kelly started the competition against over 800 contestants from several countries, as well as from all over the United States. The final selection will be made on Saturday, May 19, 2012 for the 2012 Cowboy Cheerleaders Camp. The Dallas Cowboys were once "America's Team", and their old stadium had a hole in the dome so that God could look down on his favorite players. Even though Houston is closer to Laredo, only Cowboy fans are allowed, to my knowledge, in Laredo. Football is the local sport, especially on Friday nights when the high schools play. You may think that 90+ degree temperatures would discourage the players and fans, but then you are probably not from Laredo. Good luck, Kelly, you are already our "Star"!

College Students at Habitat Laredo for Spring Break

We had a “2:00 am call” experience this weekend involving 25 Habitat for Humanity spring break college student volunteers from Mass. A drunk female driver collided with one of their rental 15 passenger vans on Highway 359. They were traveling to Habitat’s Office having been told to evacuate the Tierra Prometida Habitat subdivision because of a fire at a train derailment that was producing toxic smoke. (All 26 Habitat families at TP had also to evacuate). A few lessons re-learned—the van driver and front passenger were not critically hurt because they were wearing their seat belts when the front airbags deployed. Laredo has an excellent Fire Department/Paramedic response time—as fire equipment and ambulances arrived in minutes of the accident—as well as several Sheriff’s deputies. The drunk driver, a woman in her 30’s or early 40’s was handcuffed on the scene, and after being examined at the hospital (against her will) was taken to jail. Five of the college volunteers were transported to Laredo Medical Center’s Emergency Room—and later they reported having been treated promptly and with great professionalism by the Fire Department Paramedics and the LMC Emergency Room staff. The Habitat Laredo Staff also responded in the middle of the night to provide the unhurt students with temporary housing and meals. The Endicott College students and their two advisers have demonstrated their resiliency and dedication to serve, as they have stayed on to finish the week helping to build houses at Tierra Prometida, and in true “Texas style” have “gotten back on their horses” after the bad fall!

From February through April, Habitat for Humanity of Laredo hosts approximately 400 college student volunteers from the U.S. and Canada.

Washington's Birthday 2012

This year is the 115th year of celebrating founding father George Washington in Laredo, Texas. Yes, Laredo was in existence when Mr. Washington was leading our Revolution, having been founded as a city in 1755. (For those of you that might have missed most of your history classes, or texted your way through them, the American Revolution officially started in 1775 in Boston--Massachusetts. Laredo celebrates for over a month, with pageants, parades, shows, carnival rides, and a some-what famous Jalapeno Festival.

For kids of all ages, Laredo Community College held it's "Family Fun Fest" this past Saturday, 2-11-12. The place was jammed on a cool but sunny afternoon. The kids, of course, ignored most of the planned activities and just enjoyed running around the grass, sticking their hands into a fountain pond next to the Chapel, and jumping off assorted rocks and platforms! A big exception was the line for face painting. The smaller ones could also be seen on ponies with their proud parents holding on tight to them.

Today, Sunday, my favorite WBCA event was effectively grounded by rain and unusual cold--the very popular Air Show. First time in at least 15 years that the sky was not bright blue for watching the stunt pilots, Air Force Jets, and aircraft of all sizes and shapes. Very disappointing.

This coming Thursday is the Youth Night Parade, and Saturday the grand 4+ hour major parade. I've walked and rode in a few of the Saturday events--always watched in person by thousands of locals and visitors. I remember one that was so packed with spectators, that even the garbage dumpsters provided a place to sit--ugh!

So happy Washington's Birthday Laredo.

Lincoln Highway, Route 66, and the Pan Am Hwy

The first cross country designated continental road was the Lincoln Highway--starting on the east coast at 42nd Street in Manhattan. It crossed the Hudson River and became Route 27 in New Jersey, going right through the center of my home town, New Brunswick, on its way to Pennsylvania and the west. I was reminded of this bit of history by a recent Public Service TV Special named the "Lincoln Highway". A more well known road was Route 66--starting in Chicago and winding through the southwest, including the Texas panhandle, and ending in San Diego. Parts of Route 66 still exist, especially in New Mexico, and the road was featured in the movie "Cars".

Laredo can claim another iconic, though less well known, highway--the "Pan American". In these days, starting as IH35 at the Canadian border, and continuing south through Mexico and down to the tip of Chile. Vintage 50's cars have had annual road rallies from mid Mexico to Nuevo Laredo (before the unfortunate continuing violence shut the race down). On the Laredo side, the real life version of Burt Reynold's fictional movie race "Cannonball Run"--stopped to do laps at what was the Uniroyal track.

The Pan American Highway once ran down San Bernardo--Laredo's original "strip". Perhaps we will see a positive resurgent of this icon as a tourist destination with its growing Mexican curio shops. In any event, we are still defined as a city by the highway of "international trade".