VZCZCXRO8742
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHM RUEHHO RUEHJO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHPOD
RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #3176/01 1692004
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 182004Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7527
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEHXI/LABOR COLLECTIVE
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
RUEAHLA/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MEXICO 003176
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR DRL/AWH AND ILCSR, WHA/MEX AND PPC, USDOL FOR ILAB
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ECON PHUM EAGR KWMN SOCI PINR KCRM MX
SUBJECT: MEXICO COMMEMORATES WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOR
REF: (A) MEXICO 2520 (B) 06 MEXICO 5857
1. SUMMARY: In commemoration of the UN/ILO,s World Day
Against Child Labor, the Lower House of the Mexican Congress
and the CROC labor union (the country,s third largest labor
federation) organized a highly publicized press event to
highlight the gravity of the problem of child labor in
Mexico. The event was attended by various federal
legislators, an assortment of the CROC,s member unions, the
ILO Representative for Mexico, representatives from GOM
social welfare agencies, NGO,s and Mission Mexico personnel.
Notably absent was any official representative from the
GOM,s Secretariat of Labor (STPS), although an Assistant
Secretary level Labor official did give extensive interviews
SIPDIS
to the press acknowledging the federal government,s
shortcomings in combating child labor. Nearly everyone who
spoke at the event underscored that the problem of child
labor cannot be separated from the problem of extreme poverty
(especially rural poverty) in Mexico. Judging by the amount
of recent press coverage about child labor in Mexico has
received the event was apparently a success. However, little
was said about specific next steps to address the problem of
child labor in Mexico. On the margins of the event, the
senior CROC official for the Baja California region
approached post,s Labor Counselor to suggest increased USG
and union cooperation to combat child labor in his area. One
possible option for cooperation might be to try and involve
the Baja California CROC in the anti-trafficking in
persons/rule of law project USAID is currently undertaking in
places like AmConsul Ciudad Juarez, consular district. END
SUMMARY.
UNION WORKS WITH MEXICAN CONGRESS TO COMBAT CHILD LABOR
--------------------------------------------- ----------
2. On June 12, the CROC labor union (Revolutionary
Confederation of Workers and Peasants/Farmers) and the
Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of the Mexican
Congress), organized a highly publicized media event to
highlight the dimensions of the problem of child labor in
Mexico. The event was timed to coincide with the UN/ILO,s
commemoration of the World Day Against Child Labor and was
attended by various federal legislators, an assortment of the
CROC,s member unions, the ILO Representative for Mexico,
representatives from GOM social welfare agencies, NGO,s and
Mission Mexico personnel. The driving force behind this event
was the CROC which is perhaps the third largest labor
federation in Mexico. Many of the CROC,s associate member
unions are prominent in the hotel and restaurant industries
particularly in the areas of Mexico City and the Yucatan
peninsula beach resorts in and around Cancun. The CROC has
made combating child labor, particularly in the commercial
sex trade, one of its main priorities and has in the past
benefited from technical support made possible by US
Department of Labor funding aimed at stopping the worst forms
of child labor (REF B).
3. One of the main speakers at the event was the CROC,s
national leader, union Secretary General, Isais Gonzalez
Cuevas. In discussing the dimensions of the problem, Gonzalez
stated that the GOM,s Secretariat of Labor (STPS) has sadly
proven that it was not up to the task of protecting children
from the abuses of child labor occurring in Mexico. Although
he faulted the STPS, Gonzalez did not portray the problem of
child labor as solely a government responsibility and he
offered to re-enforce the efforts the CROC is already
undertaking to combat child labor. In that regard Gonzalez
claimed that the CROC had already trained some 350,000 people
employed in hotels, restaurants, working as taxi drivers and
as tour guides on how to spoke and report to the proper
authorities suspected instances of children being exploited
in the commercial sex trade. (Comment: Gonzalez, claim was
somewhat vague as to whether all of the people trained were
members of a CROC affiliated labor union.)
4. Continuing on, Gonzalez repeatedly stressed that the
problem of child labor could not be separated from or
properly addressed without also addressing the high levels of
extreme poverty in Mexico. The problem of child labor and
poverty, Gonzalez said, were most pronounced in rural areas
where the lack of employment or underemployment forces
parents to press their children into the labor market, in
MEXICO 00003176 002 OF 003
particular as agricultural workers. Despite the fact that
the CROC began as a union with a strong agricultural worker
component (hence the word in its name) its
representation in that area is only a fraction of what it
once was.
5. At present, the CROC is strongest in the hotel and
restaurant industries but it also has a respectable number of
unions in the textile industry. No doubt it was because of
these unions that when Gonzalez finished his points on rural
poverty he turned to the problem of contraband. Contraband,
Gonzalez said, was destroying Mexican jobs and industries.
Without these jobs large numbers of families are pushed into
poverty which places urban families in the same situation as
rural families that can only survive by forcing their
children into the labor market. He then urged the Mexican
Congress and government to increase their efforts to reduce
poverty in Mexico as the best way of combating child labor.
ILO FOCUSES ON CHILD LABOR IN AGRICULTURE
-----------------------------------------
6. The next speaker was the Representative of the
International Labor Organization (ILO) in Mexico, Miguel Del
Cid. Del Cid acknowledged the seriousness of the problem in
Mexico of children being exploited in the commercial sex
trade but indicated that his agency felt it could do the
greatest good for a larger number of children by focusing its
efforts on the problem of child labor in agriculture.
According to the ILO, seven out of every ten children forced
into the labor market are pressed into the role of
agricultural workers.
7. Del Cid indicated that the problem of child labor was
more pronounced in rural areas because governments like
Mexico,s often lack the resources needed to properly enforce
labor laws. Because of this his agency estimated that some
3.3 million children between the ages of 6-14 were currently
forced to leave school and were pressed into jobs in order to
help maintain their families. The ILO calculates that this
figure represents 20 percent of all the children in the 6-14
years age group in Mexico. The overwhelming majority of
these children, Del Cid stated, are currently employed as
agricultural workers.
LABOR SECRETARIAT ACCEPTS BLAME FOR THE GOM
-------------------------------------------
8. Although there were no GOM Labor Secretariat (STPS)
representatives at the event, on the same day, an Assistant
Secretary level official spoke extensively to the press about
SIPDIS
on the problem of child labor in Mexico. The STPS official
freely acknowledged that the GOM had failed to meet its
responsibilities under Mexican law with respect to preventing
abuses of child law. Mexican federal labor mandates a minimum
daily wage for all employees (approximately equivalent to USD
4.50) and specifically prohibits the employment of anyone
under age 14.
9. According to the STPS official, there are currently some
3 million children forced to work who are below the federal
minimum age for employment. The official said that this
figure represented only 15 percent of the children in the
6-14 year old age group for Mexico; as opposed to the figure
of 20 percent cited by the ILO. The official agreed with the
ILO that most of these children were employed as agricultural
workers but also calculated that some 20,000 children
throughout Mexico are trafficked in the commercial sex trade.
The Mexican states with the highest levels of child labor,
the STSP official said, were the states of Jalisco, Nayarit,
Sonora, Sinaloa, Baja California and Tabasco. This list of
problem states differed somewhat from the states cited
separately by the GOM,s Nation Statistics Institute (INEGI)
which listed Chiapas, Campache, Puebla and Veracruz.
(Comment: As reported in REF A, there still appears to be
considerable disagreement on the statistics which describe
the problem of child labor in Mexico.)
A REQUEST FOR CLOSER COOPERATION
--------------------------------
MEXICO 00003176 003 OF 003
10. Immediately following the event which took place at the
offices of the Mexican Congress, post,s Labor Counselor was
approached by senior CROC official for the Baja California
region of Mexico (AmConsul Tijuana,s consular district).
The CROC official referred to the growing tourist industry in
his region and suggested that it might beneficial for the USG
and the union offices in the Baja California area to work
more closely together to try and deal with the problems of
child labor. Labor Counselor replied that the idea of closer
cooperation in his region, especially with regard to the
worst forms of child labor (the commercial sex trade) was an
excellent suggestion. Post,s Labor Counselor advised the
union official that any such cooperation might be more
effectively coordinated by working with AmConsul Tijuana and
offered to act as a liaison to facilitate some initial
introductions. The CROC official and Labor Counselor then
tentatively scheduled a meeting at a later discuss the issue
of possible cooperation in more detail.
COMMENT
-------
11. If the amount of media coverage is any indication the
CROC/Mexican Congress was a success in terms of drawing
attention to the problem of child labor in Mexico, at least
in the short term. Unfortunately, there was very little
mentioned in the event or accompanying press coverage and
follow-up commentary about concrete next steps. The event
participants all clearly linked the issue of poverty in
Mexico with the problems associated with child labor.
Attention was clearly drawn to the complex problems of rural
poverty and the distressing issue of children being forced
into the commercial sex trade, but nothing was said that
would indicate a firm plan in either the short or long term
to address these complex and major issues.
12. On a small scale, the offer of closer cooperation from
the CROC official responsible for the Baja California region
might be an opportunity to make some type of beginning in
that area. Post will report on whatever details or
suggestions that are ultimately provided by the CROC official
for Baja California and coordinate any future actions that
appear feasible with AmConsul Tijuana. One possible option
for cooperation might be to involve the Baja California CROC
in the anti-trafficking in persons/rule of law project aimed
at legal reform such as the one USAID is currently
undertaking in AmConsul Ciudad Juarez, consular district.
Admittedly, child labor is only one aspect of trafficking in
persons but the USAID project, which aims to implement more
effective civil and criminal justice systems, is a concrete
example of the types of cooperative efforts can help.
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity and the North American
Partnership Blog at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap /
GARZA