Dear CJM Members,

Changes that are occurring on a global level, neoliberal policies, trade agreements and the policies of right wing governments are likewise impacting labor and social movement organizations.

The CJM Board of Directors met in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas on November 2-4th to evaluate the current situation with its challenges and opportunities, and the strengths and weaknesses possessed by CJM to face these new challenges.

After a deep analysis, the decision was made that CJM must maintain and strengthen its international, pluralist, and democratic character, and consolidate the empowerment of workers and grassroots organizations as well as the tools necessary to do so. We committed ourselves to strengthen a relationship of mutual respect and to recognize the different forms of leadership and spaces that exist, and to find the mechanisms to consolidate our governance bodies, filling the vacancies left by those who resigned.     

We are also committed to seek active involvement of the members through more efficient communication and evaluation between the leadership bodies and the members. In the same way, we will promote international solidarity without conditions and paternalism, prioritizing our mission and the principles of the coalition. At the same time, we will look for alternatives to build a solid financial base that facilitates the political, organizing and administrative work of the organization.
The following areas of work were agreed upon:

Work strategy
Solidarity and alliances
Internal functioning /operations

1] Work strategy for maquila workers and their communities
To prioritize workers’ empowerment through training and exchanges of experiences in different areas, prioritizing the mapping of the process of production as well as organizational mapping with a gender focus in the four regions.

Action Plan:
-The action plan that was agreed upon in the General Assembly for 2007-2008 was ratified.

-To prioritize and strengthen regional organizing-
To follow up on the results of the strategic planning regional workshops, emphasizing mapping the production process, strategic planning, and organizational mapping with the goal of empowering maquila workers to develop their strengths.

-To promote and develop the proactive, planned and permanent organization inside and outside of the factory

To resolve the immediate needs of workers and grassroots organizations, making available to them the human, material and economic resources that will allow them to participate in organizing movements.

To identify challenges and opportunities in moving ahead in the construction of a permanent movement of maquila workers organizing inside the factory and in the community

To promote the organization of forums, seminars, and workshops on the northern border by CJM member organizations located in Mexico City.

To promote exchanges between activists and workers at the regional and international levels
 
To hold the General Assembly in November 2008

2] Solidarity and Alliances

We committed ourselves to respecting the different leadership styles and to build new forms of relationships between equals among the members, and to develop a Code of Ethics to build the solidarity without paternalism and conditions.

We also committed to expose the internationalization of the maquilas, the precarious labor and the exploitation that they create, and the need to exchange and articulate the experiences, struggles and resistance of workers at the global level.

An exchange on mapping the process of the production between three grassroots maquila workers on November 29 to December 3rd in Curitiba, Brasil with TIE

To strengthen our alliances with the movements the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca APPO, and the Other Campaign of the indigenous communities from Chiapas

To defend the freedom of speech, build our own media alternatives, and to look for opportunities to work with the democratic and alternative media 

To put the public spotlight on any attack against any of our organizations, and to immediately express our solidarity for better protection against the attacks of vicious capitalism
 
Campaigns:
The campaigns included in the work plan were ratified, prioritizing:
-Follow through on the Freedom of Association and Anti-Protection Contracts Campaign based on a grassroots vision
- To present the collective complaint before the ILO regarding violations of the freedom of association of maquila workers since the passage of NAFTA
- To support the Key System and Muebles Fino Buenos workers’ struggles 
-To reactivate the campaign for a living wage
-The promote the campaign against the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) and other trade agreements

1] Internal operations and functioning
The work of the Executive Committee, Executive Director and staff was recognized, as well the organizations that responded in solidarity, making the meeting possible: El Mañana Newspaper from Nuevo Laredo, Transnational Information Exchange (TIE) and CILAS, as well as all the organizations who attended and paid their own expenses 

Executive Committee: With great enthusiasm we inform you that the executive committee was strengthened in the following ways: Amelia Simpson, of the Environmental Health Coalition from the United States was elected President, and Jon Hunt from the Campaign for Labor Rights was elected Treasurer. The leadership of the Executive Committee was extended to Brazil with the election of Sergio Luis Bertoni from the Transnational Information Exchange, and the vacancy left by our compañero Alejandro Pérez who recently passed away was filled by Gerardo Juarez, a representative of the same organization: Comité de Obreros en Lucha 

Communication: With the objective of having a more effective communication with members, the CJM Board agreed that the Executive Committee will send a report every four months and the members will reply with their feedback

Fundraising: We also agreed to resolve the inevitable finance and administrative issues of the organization immediately, reactivating the fundraising plan that was approved by the Executive Committee in April and starting with the following specific steps: 
 
1] To hire Juan Carlos Aguilar, a professional consultant, to develop a fundraising plan, for which we will request the support and involvement of all members in all countries
2] To encourage the members who have not yet done so to pay their dues [Please update your dues payment if you are behind]
3] To send out the Christmas appeal to the members [please be aware that you will receive it soon]
4] To look for potential foundations that may be interested in our work
5] To ask our members to host and organize events in their regions in which two maquila workers will promote the book NAFTA from Below, and to do fundraising and to strengthen the relationship between our members and maquila workers

We believe very strongly that a world with justice and dignity for all is possible and we are committed in CJM to build it with support from all you, those who decided to walk with us in seeking the horizon of social justice.
In Solidarity,

CJM's Executive Committee

Amelia Simpson- President     
Environmental Health Coalition

Israel Monroy - Secretary
Campaign for Labor Rights

Jon Hunt- Treasurer
Campaign for Labor Rights

Rosario Garcia
MUSA

Reyes Edelmira Rodriguez
Lajat Workers

Sergio Luis Bertoni
TIE Brazil

Gerardo Juarez
Workers in Struggle

Martha Ojeda
CJM's Executive Director