Wednesday, March 26, 7:30 pm, MonkeyWrench Books

NAFTA FROM BELOW: Maquiladora Workers Speak Out on the Impact of Free Trade in Mexico

Join MonkeyWrench Books and the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras at A Presentation in Solidarity with the Key Safety Systems’ Workers struggle.

Key Safety Systems is a leading global producer of airbags and other auto safety systems, which has sent its production to maquiladoras such as Valle Hermoso, Mexico, just south of Brownsville, Texas, in search of cheap workers. Two workers organizing at KSS’s Valle Hermoso plant, Perla Cruz and Israel Monroy, will speak on the human costs of NAFTA-style free trade. CJM coordinator Martha Ojeda, a former maquila worker and veteran organizer, will also be present.

Cruz and Monroy will speak of the low wages, environmental pollution, discrimination and labor and human rights abuses that now characterize Mexico’s northern border. Perla was fired Feb. 14 as part of KSS’s efforts to crush workers’ efforts to build an independent union to redress these conditions.

Our lives are literally in the hands of the workers of Key Safety Systems; We can repay them by supporting their struggle for their own safety in the workplace. Let’s help each other and work together to build the real meaning of solidarity!