Cross-boarder Trade With Mexico And The Prospect For Worker Solidarity: The Case Of Mexico

The labor unions are made up of an organization of workers dedicated to protecting their interest in the workplace and improving wages, benefits, hours and working conditions. The roles that many unions had in this environment are very tiresome. Many companies were going to Mexico because of the low wages and disorganized unions, which left many United States (US) workers out of jobs, or transferring them to Mexico. This was very hard for some unions because there were too many jobs coming to Mexico for cheap labor. The article illustrated an example, where workers in the US were trying to focus on forming a union, and the company made a threat on how production would have been moved to Mexico. This really put many US workers in a bind. Unions were trying to make an effort, by agreeing to cut half of new workers income so senior workers could have more money for retirement. Unions of today are more responsive than preventative because they act after a proposal is introduced. Unions should take up the roles as observers of the economy to better assess the working environment and make better decisions for its members. They can play this role effectively by tapping into their members' problems, views and energy, before unfortunate circumstances occur. Unions should also be strategic and target sources with the right information for example, social-economic planning agencies, and ministries of finance and have a fundamental duty to help members stay safe, healthy and employed so they can remain economically independent. Other role unions can play goes beyond the workplace and extended to the home and the society is that they can be advocates for domestic violence, societal ills such as drugs and violence which all impact its members and employment performance.

The past bargaining processes benefited the auto industry because Mexico government instituted a border industrialization program that would draw commercial ventures to the edge of the country. Companies could bring in parts duty free and pay taxes only on the value added if the plant sell to other countries and it invest 100 percent of its production back to the United States. Unions continued to be the voice and strength of many workers.

During the Pre-Revolutionary America, many workers were either immigrants who paid their way to the New World, Indentured Servants who were eager to leave England and northern Europe because of the homelessness and unemployment caused by their declining economy, as well as slaves brought from Africa. Craftspeople such as carpenters and masons, shipwrights and sail makers, tanners, weavers, shoemakers, tailors, smiths, barrel makers, glassmakers, and printers were allowed wage security for the artisans. However, since then, when all available shoemakers committed to work only for the wage they believed fair, the solidarity of the worker, so necessary for success, was born. As the workplaces expanded the first sites for American unions was established.

In 2008, 881 auto dealerships were forced to close and/or file for bankruptcy due to the economic crisis and rise in gas prices which resulted in thousands of employees filing court claims seeking compensation for insufficient notice prior to dismissal. The role of the United Auto Workers (UAW) was to negotiate benefits for the jobs bank program, under which laid-off members received 95 percent of their take-home pay and benefits. More than 12,000 of UAW members were paid this benefit in 2005. In December 2008, they agreed to suspend the program as a concession to help U.S. automakers during the auto industry crisis. UAW concludes that the costs imposed by labor had little to do with the problems in the auto industry. There are several union tactics that hinder the success of the auto industry. These include bargaining strategies such as strikes, work stoppages and work slow. When the aforementioned techniques are executed, they limit efficiency and productivity throughout the industry. Unions continued to be the voice and strength of many workers. The UAW is known as an industrial union because it represents almost all the employees in one workplace: "one shop, one union". In the Auto Industry, UAW found success in organizing with the sit-down strike in a General Motor Plant. The strike ended in 1937 after the negotiating recognition of the UAW by General Motors. The past bargaining processes did

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