For the Peaceful Reinstatement of Raquel Espinoza, Worker at the Pung Kook Maquiladora en La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Raquel Espinoza has been a maquiladora worker since 1974. Since August 3, 1998, she has been an employee at Pung Kook of Mexico, S.A. de C.V. working as a computer operator at a maquiladora that provides services for such international firms as Adidas, Lands End, Patagonia and Danna. Her workday runs from 7:30am to 5:30pm, Monday through Friday and 7:30am to 1:00pm on Saturdays. She was unjustly fired on June 11, 2001. At the time of her firing her salary was 50 pesos/day ($5.45 US), which is two pesos less than the minimum professional wage at that time.

On June 25, 2001, Raquel was obligated to bring her case to the Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board based in La Paz. Before the Workers' Defense Tribunal she denounced the company for unjustly firing her and demanded her instatement.
On April 29, 2002, at 8:50am, Raquel was notified of decision of the Local Arbitration Board dated March first, 2002, in which the following resolution which was unanimously supported by the Board members stated that:


FIRST: C. Raquel Espinoza, authentically verified the actions that were described in her first petition.

SECOND: The company known as Pung Kook of Mexico, S.A. of C.V., did not verify the exceptions and statement made in their defense, which they counterpoised in their responded to the petition.

THIRD: The Pung Kok of Mexico, S.A. de C.V. company is thus ordered to reinstate the worker C. Raquel Espinoza to the job that she carried out with the same terms and conditions, in conformity with this decision. In addition, The Pung Kook of Mexico S.A. of C.V. Company must retroactively pay the worker C. Raquel Espinoza the salary she has lost, starting from the 12th of June, 2001 up to the date of the full completion of this decision, based on 54.40 pesos per day as salary.

FOURTH: The Pung Kook of Mexico, S.A. of C.V. company is conceded the period of 72 hours, counted from the time of the notification of this resolution, for the fulfillment of the third point of this decision, in conformity with article 945 of Mexican Federal Labor Law.

On May 2, 2002, 72 hours had passed which by law was the limit for the company to comply with the resolution of the Arbitration Board. Being that the company did not comply within the time period set out by article 945, Raquel's defense presented a document to the Arbitration Board so that it would set a date and time for the reinstatement and back pay due. This should happen within the course of 15 days of the 2nd of May.

Weeks before the issuance of the resolution by the Arbitration Board, on the 1st and 2nd of May, the Mexican representative of the maquiladora, named Jesus Guerrero Alvarez, ordered the directors of the phantom union formed by
the company and certain trusted workers, to generate a climate of violence and threats against Raquel Espinoza and Tito Piñeda, advisor to the independent Union of Workers of the Maquiladora Industry of Baja California Sur. They argued that if Raquel were reinstated the company would close, and
that if Raquel went back to the maquiladora she would be taking the place of the directors of the phantom union.

Raquel has denied this publicly and before the labor authorities and the governor of the state, explaining that what has been said by the Mexican representative of the company is false, and that the only thing that he seeks
is the impede her reinstatement and provoke division and confrontation among the workers. The Mexican representative of the maquiladora should understand that what the Arbitration Board has done in this case is to apply labor
justice in keeping with the Federal Labor Law.

In keeping with the information above, the following organizations in Mexico, the United States and Canada request:

TO THE COMPANY: that its Mexican representative stop fomenting division among the workers and permit the peaceful reinstatement of Raquel.

TO THE LABOR AUTHORITIES: that they help in this dialogue with the foreign business people so that the resolution is respected and Raquel can be reinstated peacefully.

TO THE INTERNATIONAL FIRMS: that they recommend that the Pung Kook Company in La Paz and in Seoul should not offer any protection against the resolution of the Arbitration Board and that Raquel should be reinstated peacefully in the next few days.

TO THE WORKERS ORGANIZATIONS: that they protest in favor of the peaceful reinstatement of Raquel and in support of solidarity among the maquiladora workers in Baja California Sur in Mexico, and in defense of labor rights and human rights and for the freedom to unionize.

La Paz, Baja California Sur, May 3, 2002
The (independent) Union of Maquiladora Workers in the State of Baja Califonia Sur