Mexico City, D.F.—As talks on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement began in 
Washington Aug. 16, workers from several leading Mexican labor unions marched in Mexico City, demanding “a new cooperation and complementarity agreement.” The protesters, carrying signs that read “Mexico is better without the TLC” (the Spanish acronym for NAFTA) included members of the National Union of Workers, the Union of Telephone Operators of the Mexican Republic, the Union of Workers of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the National Guild of Education Workers, and the Mexican Electricians Union. The unions’ leaders said the process is “undemocratic,” because they are not being informed about the terms and conditions being discussed. They also claimed that the nation’s workers are not being properly represented by the Confederation of Mexican Workers, the country’s largest union, and the Labor Congress, both of which have strong ties to the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which has controlled Mexico’s government for all but 12 years since 1929. Read more
