Free Collapse of Dignity by Napoleon Gomez

If multinational companies join forces, there is no reason for unions not to make a similar effort. This seems fundamentally obvious in an era when global trade unionism is enduring assaults and divisions by provocation across the globe.
    At every chance, I tried to present to the union’s opponents how important the labor movement is in Mexico. On September 13 of 2004, Oralia and I were invited to a private dinner held at Los Pinos, the official residence of the Mexican president, hosted by President Vicente Fox and his wife Marta Sahagún. Three other union leaders and their wives were to be in attendance. The Mexican secretary of labor, Carlos María Abascal, was also invited, as well as the president’s chief economic advisor, Eduardo Sojo Aldape. Though I’d been in the presence of President Fox in larger political events, this would be the first time I dined withhim in an intimate setting. There wasn’t a set objective for the meeting; it was to be an open discussion, so that President Fox and his wife could get a closer look at the labor leaders’ views on political matters.
    Oralia and I arrived at Los Pinos and were ushered to a private dining room with a view of the gardens. Mexican art decorated the walls, and President Fox offered us a white-blue agave tequila from Jalisco that had been custom made for him. Labor Secretary Abascal, whom I’d met with several times at that point, seemed tense. Though he was conservative and an active opponent of the union cause, Abascal had a kind, soft manner and probably was nervous that the dinner would erupt into argument, given the wide divergence between my views and the president’s. He knew there would be an inevitable disagreement when labor issues came up. I was committed to defending the dignity of the workers, while Fox was more interested in the interests of businessmen like Larrea, men whose money had put him in office. Abascal, like the president, looked at matters from the business perspective, but he always did his best to mediate—he likened himself to a marriage counselor, saying that he never failed to reconcile two parties. Germán Larrea and I, he insisted, weren’t going to be his first defeat.
    We were served a rich meal of pumpkin flower and corn soup, cactus salad, and beef tenderloin with guacamole and salsa. It was all delicious, but I couldn’t help but have the thought that this would be a great opportunity for the president to poison several labor leaders at once. I hesitantly ate nevertheless and at one point made the comment that Mexico should review the models of advanced regions of the world, such as Scandinavia and many others. I said we should carefully analyze what we were able to learn from these countries that have achieved great progress in economic development and in their social policy in terms of education, productivity, efficiency, jobs, health, and housing.
    I also mentioned the studies conducted by the International Labor Organization, the European Organization of Economic Development, the International Metalworkers Federation, and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions that showhigh levels of honesty in these countries. I also pointed out that these are nations where the availability of resources is comparable to the distribution of wealth and they are all countries where union membership is the highest on the planet. “This leads me to conclude,” I said, “that we could have governments that are honest and efficient and that show a high degree of unionization, between 80 and 95 percent of the workforce.” Neither Fox nor the others made any comment, except Marta Sahagún, who said, “Well, they are very far away and they have different customs.”
    â€œThat’s true,” I replied, “but they are examples of great success, and I am sure we can learn a lot of their experiences and policies.”
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