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"I am, indeed, proud to be associated with them and with the TWU, and on behalf of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers I bring you greetings, best wishes and a message of trade union solidarity. I wish you well in your Convention and thank you for the opportunity to share with you some of my concerns about the future of the American transportation industry, especially the railroads.
"Today I want to talk to you about the 'brown banana theory.'
President Monin delivering his speech during the TWU convention.
"No, this is not a lecture on agriculture, or a dissertation about the healthy benefits of eating bananas, not even a joke about watching where you step.
"What I have to tell you deals with the significant threat facing American transportation workers, most particularly railroad workers. And it is decidedly no joke.
"As I speak to you, the Mexican National Railway System is being privatized by the Mexican Government. And wouldn't you know it.... the principal investors in this privatization scheme are large American railroad corporations Union Pacific, Kansas City Southern and Burlington Northern.
"Several months ago, the Kansas City Southern, together with their Mexican partners (TMM), invested $1.3 billion to buy the Mexican Northeast line which runs from Mexico City northeast to the United States via the 'Laredo Gateway' a railroad point of entry at Laredo, Texas.
"On June 27, a group called GFM, which is led by the Union Pacific Railroad Company, successfully acquired control of the FNM's Pacific North Railway. The UP came up with a significant portion 13 percent of the purchase price of 3.9 billion pesos, approximately 487 million U.S. dollars.
"Next month another group of investors, which includes the Burlington Northern Railroad, is expected to successfully acquire the 2,500 mile Southeast line, running south from Mexico City to the Guatemala border and to Atlantic and Pacific coast ports.
"What's important here is not what these U.S. corporations paid to buy the Mexican railway system. The point to keep in mind is that these three huge railroad corporations will be running the entire rail system in Mexico, exploiting Mexican workers, undercutting American jobs and jeopardizing the wages, benefits and standard of living of thousands of U.S. workers.
"The involvement of the three large U.S. railroad companies in the purchase of Mexican railroad properties is part of a grand design to build the largest for-profit railroad conglomerate in the world. The idea is to link by rail Central America and Mexico with the United States and Canada, providing cross border services to manufacturing export platforms and 'maquiladora' industries in Mexico and Central America, which mainly export to the U.S. and Canada.
"A major objective of the American railroads' interests in Mexico is to open up agricultural markets in Central America. That will speed millions of tons of banana shipments and other agricultural products by rail all the way from Panama to U.S. and Canadian consumer markets in record time.
"By avoiding trans-shipments from one railroad to another, or from rail to ship, they hope to do away with the 'brown banana theory' huge amounts of rotten bananas resulting from slow and costly trans-shipments and transportation delays a major problem facing the Central American agribusiness industry today.
"This giant U.S.-operated railroad company running overland from Panama to Alaska seeks to minimize or eliminate the need for cross border trans-shipments by truck and/or ship. Truck traffic will be primarily piggy back operations on unit trains that will cross the Mexico-U.S. and U.S.-Canada borders operated by so-called 'international crews.'
"This means U.S.-Mexico-owned trains entering U.S. territory will be operated by employees of diverse nationalities something similar to the 'crew of convenience' concept used today by airlines and shipping companies.
"While all of this may be good news for banana lovers it certainly spells disaster for both Mexican and American railroad workers
"More significantly for some U.S. rail unions is the fact that FNM currently owns and operates in San Luis de Potosi, in central Mexico, one of the most modern and technologically sophisticated railroad shops in the world. The Potosi shops offer state-of-the-art capability in building, repairing and maintaining locomotive engines and all kinds of rolling stock.
"The Potosi railroad shops and others now in development will be managed by U.S. railroad executives for the benefit of the three U.S. rail carriers operating in Mexico. While ostensibly Potosi will initially handle their Mexico rail equipment and maintenance-of-way needs, it does not take a rocket engineer to figure out that sooner or later, Mexico will become the mecca of railroad equipment fabrication, maintenance and repairs for all rail carriers in the United States and, indeed, Canada.
"And you know why: The current average wage of Mexico carmen and other maintenance personnel is barely $1.50 an hour or $12 a day in U.S. dollars. And, of course, there are other kinds of less-skilled railroad workers in Mexico who make even less.
"These developments threaten everyone in the United States. Not just our jobs, our pay, or our benefits. Given the terrible safety record of some of these railroad companies like Union Pacific our very lives are at stake. I want to let you know that, with the support of the AFL-CIO and advice and assistance from our good friend Jack Otero, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers are launching a 'Mexico/U.S. Solidarity Program' in close cooperation with the Mexican railwaymen's union.
"BMWE President Mac Fleming and I have come to the conclusion that we cannot afford to sit idle while our railroad employers move south of the border making sizable investments and other business decisions based on a profit-taking scheme that emphasizes a 'low-wage' strategy.
"The BLE/BMWE initiative south of the border will allow railroad unions in both countries to interchange assistance and labor solidarity in meeting the challenges that will result from the FNM privatization and cross-border rail operations.
"This is a fight that many railroad and transportation unions have a stake in. I hope we can all fight it together.
"Not coincidentally, the U.S. Congress will soon begin the debate on 'fast track' authority for the U.S. government to negotiate more free trade agreements.
"The debate will be visceral and controversial.
"We know what's at stake with 'fast track,' and the railroad industry does too.
"They have joined large U.S. corporations to begin a 'fast track' of their own by swallowing up the Mexican railways. Their objectives are clear: exploit the Mexicans and force American workers to accept a low-wage strategy.
"And we understand as you do that each of these efforts to chip away at the gains achieved by the past efforts of the members and leadership of both our unions represents a serious threat to all of us and they must be fought.
"The BLE will use every ounce of its energy to fight this battle, and we would love nothing more than to be joined by the toughest outfit with the greatest tradition for standing up for working people's hopes and aspirations the TWU!
"You are a union that knows the importance of standing up for its members.
"A union that knows how to fight and a union that knows how to win!" ·
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