SBC Techs Help Mexican Counterparts Prepare to Bargain

Concerned about how new technology will affect their jobs when they bargain a new contract this spring, Mexico City telephone workers turned to CWA for some expert advice.

The result was five jam-packed days in Mexico in late January for two SBC technicians from Texas who rushed from job sites to union meetings to help the Telmex workers — members of the Mexican telecom union STRM — prepare to protect their jobs.

The trip was coordinated by the AFL-CIO's Solidarity Center, which sets up hundreds of exchanges throughout the world every year to strengthen unions and workers' rights.

"I've never been received in such a manner. Their welcome was tremendous," said Gerry Alonzo, president of CWA Local 6110 in Laredo, Texas, who was accompanied by local Secretary-Treasurer Arely Erazo.

The Mexican workers wanted to know how their American counterparts dealt with new technology — for instance, how the introduction of laptop computers in their trucks affected the work they do and their contracts.

"We spoke to the pros and cons," Alonzo said. "We elaborated on how easy it is for us to pick up jobs and close them out, and use the tools in the laptop to get cable information and run electrical and resistance tests."

On the "con" side of technology is the loss of some jobs, particularly plant assigners as their work has become more automated and centralized, Alonzo said.

Erazo said the Mexican workers are anxious about the new technology, because it's coming to them much faster than it came to American workers. "We've been getting it in a progressive way, and they're getting it suddenly," he said. "They're going through a lot of changes."

Telmex is partially owned by SBC. The two companies and their unions held a joint meeting last year in San Antonio, and technicians from Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, on the Mexican side of the border, have also met previously. CWA and the Solidarity Center hope to have future exchanges for members in call centers and other sectors of the companies, as well as a trip to Texas for some of the Mexican technicians.

Teresa Casertano, the Solidarity Center's regional director for the Americas, said she's heard nothing but positive feedback from the center's representative in Mexico City about the trip. "They're so grateful for the information," she said. "This is really critical to them because their contract expires in April and they're gearing up for bargaining."