The Evening Citizen
Laconia, NH, Wednesday November 21, 2002

Activists to pressure Belmont company over
fired workers in Mexico

By John Koziol
Staff Writer

LACONIA — In a unique twist, labor activists plan to visit the Belmont subsidiary of an international automotive assembly manufacturer on Wednesday to put pressure on its corporate parent to re-hire fired workers in Mexico.
The visit at 11:30 a.m. to Noyes Fiber Systems on Eastgate Park Road, is intended to convince Alcoa Fujikura, which is a joint venture of Pittsburgh-based Alcoa and a Japanese company, to hire back 20 workers at two of Alcoa Fujikura’s plants in Piedras Negras and Ciudad Acuna in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila.
Alcoa Fujikura reportedly employees some 17,000 workers at 13 automobile engine wiring harnesses factories in Mexico.

The workers, according to a prepared statement from the American Friends Service Committee’s New Hampshire Office in Concord, were fired for organizing an independent union at their plants in Mexico.
Rich Tyler, who is the plant manager at Noyes Fiber Systems, this morning said he was unaware of the planned visit but intended to call the AFSC to find out about it.

" For more than a year, Alcoa has resorted to threats, interference in union elections, video surveillance of workers inside and outside the plant, and similar tactics aimed at undermining worker organizing," said AFSC-NH Program Coordinator Arnie Alpert in the release.

New Hampshire AFL-CIO President Mark MacKenzie, who was also expected to visit the Noyes factory, said "workers everywhere have a right to organize independent unions. We are proud to take a stand alongside our Mexican brothers and sisters."

Alpert and MacKenzie will be accompanied on their visit by two of the fired workers from Alcoa Fujikura’s factories in Coahuila, Mexico.

The workers, Guadalupe Rivera and Rafael Salinas, are asking for reinstatement of all the fired workers, an end to Alcoa’s intimidation, and replacement of company officials who have abused workers’ rights.
Wednesday’s planned visit is part of a nationwide effort by the AFSC, the Campaign for Labor Rights, the United Students Against Sweatshops and the AFL-CIO.

" Alcoa’s actions violate Mexican labor law and the Mexican constitution, both of which guarantee freedom of association, including the right of workers to democratically choose their own unions," said Alpert. "They also violate the company’s own statements which affirm Alcoa’s support for freedom of association and other human rights," he said.

John Koziol can be reached by calling 524-3800 ext. 5940 or by e-mail at jkoziol@citizen.com