General Editor: Eugene Rogan (1997 ), Fellow of St Antony s College, Oxford

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1 St Antony s Series General Editor: Eugene Rogan (1997 ), Fellow of St Antony s College, Oxford Recent titles include: Carl Aaron THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF JAPANESE FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN THE UK AND THE US Uri Bialer OIL AND THE ARAB ISRAELI CONFLICT, Craig Brandist and Galin Tihanov (editors) MATERIALIZING BAKHTIN Mark Brzezinski THE STRUGGLE FOR CONSTITUTIONALISM IN POLAND Reinhard Drifte JAPAN S QUEST FOR A PERMANENT SECURITY COUNCIL SEAT Simon Duke THE ELUSIVE QUEST FOR EUROPEAN SECURITY Tim Dunne INVENTING INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY Marta Dyczok THE GRAND ALLIANCE AND UKRAINIAN REFUGEES Ken Endo THE PRESIDENCY OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION UNDER JACQUES DELORS M. K. Flynn IDEOLOGY, MOBILIZATION AND THE NATION Anthony Forster BRITAIN AND THE MAASTRICHT NEGOTIATIONS Ricardo Ffrench-Davis REFORMING THE REFORMS IN LATIN AMERICA Fernando Guirao SPAIN AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF WESTERN EUROPE, Anthony Kirk-Greene BRITAIN S IMPERIAL ADMINISTRATORS, Bernardo Kosacoff CORPORATE STRATEGIES UNDER STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT IN ARGENTINA Huck-ju Kwon THE WELFARE STATE IN KOREA Cécile Laborde PLURALIST THOUGHT AND THE STATE IN BRITAIN AND FRANCE,

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3 The Politics of Telecommunications in Mexico Privatization and State Labour Relations, Judith Clifton Lecturer in Political Communications Institute of Communications Studies University of Leeds in association with ST ANTONY S COLLEGE, OXFORD

4 First published in Great Britain 2000 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / First published in the United States of America 2000 by ST. MARTIN S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Clifton, Judith, 1967 The politics of telecommunications in Mexico : privatization and state labour relations, / Judith Clifton p. cm. (St. Antony's series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ^ ^ ^ 1. Telafonos de Maxico, S.A. 2. Sindicato de Telefonistas de la Repablica Mexicana. 3. Telephone companies Mexico. 4. Privatization Mexico. 5. Telephone companies Employees Labor unions Mexico. I. Title. II. Series. HE8880.T435 C '.0972 dc Judith Clifton 2000 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources

5 To my parents, for all their many kinds of support and to Daniel, for everything

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7 Contents List of Tables and Figures Preface List of Abbreviations viii ix xi Introduction 1 1 Continuity and Rupture in the Mexican Political System 8 2 State Labour Relations in Mexico: Opening up the Black Box 39 3 Neoliberal Economic Reform, Unions and the Anomaly of the STRM 80 4 The Politics of Industrial Restructuring and Privatization Privatizing TELMEX and Crafting a New Unionism 144 Conclusions 172 Appendix: a Bottom-Up Approach to the Impact of Privatization on Telephone Workers using Survey and Interview Techniques 178 Notes 208 Bibliography 243 Index 275 vii

8 List of Tables and Figures Tables 2.1 Composition of the STRM s National Executive Committee (CEN) and National Vigilance Committee (CNV) TELMEX: Analysis of the Structure, Debt and Capitalization, A.1 Questionnaire to Operators of Teléfonos de México (English translation) 194 Figures 3.1 TELMEX: Labour Productivity in TELMEX Measured by Lines/Worker Index Calls and Worker Productivity TELMEX s Average Tariffs Index Capital Structure of TELMEX before and after Privatization 159 A.1 Age of the Sample of TELMEX Operators 195 A.2 Years that Sample of Operators Worked in TELMEX 196 A.3 Sample of TELMEX Operators by Age and Seniority 197 A.4 Education of Sample of TELMEX Operators 198 A.5 Computer Use of TELMEX Operators 199 A.6 Ease of Transition to Digital Technology According to Seniority 200 A.7 Operators Views on Digital Technology 201 A.8 Operators Chance to Take a Break 203 A.9 Changing Shifts of All Operators 204 A.10 Operators Need to Consult Supervisor 205 A.11 Connecting Calls 206 A.12 Anxiety in the Face of International Competition 207 viii

9 Preface The origins of this book are my research interests in the process of democratization in general and my particular fascination with the case of Mexico. I was especially interested to enquire how the political system in Mexico had managed to remain so stable in marked contrast to many other developing countries, including those in Latin America. My research started out as a DPhil candidate at St Antony s into one of the most important trade unions in Mexico during the 1980s and 1990s, the telephone workers union. I wanted to analyse whether its project of representing a kind of new unionism actually offered more union democracy and autonomy, and what consequences this might have for the stability of the political system and prospects for democracy. It was necessary to analyse the rise of this new unionism movement within the context of the political, economic and social climate during the Salinas administration ( ) and, in particular, the privatization programme at the heart of which was the sale of Mexico s national telephone company, Teléfonos de México (TELMEX). In my analysis of the evolving relationship between the Mexican government and the telephone workers union contrast is made with the experiences of other Mexican trade unions in the same period, such as the unions of petroleum workers, teachers, electricity workers, miners and so on. However, there were reasons which made the telephone workers union a special case. The telecommunications industry is at the heart of a transformation towards an increasingly informationdependent age. The convergence of computer, telephone and audiovisual technology means that the telecommunications sector is undergoing dramatic structural change, making it one of the most dynamic industries, as well as one increasingly subject to international competition. Telecommunications played a crucial role in both the economic and political policies of the Mexican government after the 1982 debt crisis. The sale of TELMEX was by far the most important single instance of privatization executed by Salinas both in financial and strategic terms. I argue in this book that the rise of new unionism in Mexico is inseparable from these developments. The complexity of the telecommunications sector, the difficulties in researching such a sensitive topic, the key role of telecommunications in economic policy ix

10 x Preface and politics during this period, justify a study which concentrates almost solely on this sector, though some comparisons are drawn with telecommunications policy in other Latin American countries. The lack of detailed work on how Mexican trade unions operate from within a gap which was pointed out by Roxborough more than a decade ago and which continues to exist provides another important reason for analysing one sector in detail. This helps avoid generalizations about state labour relations and the dynamics of organized labour within the political system. I would like to thank my supervisor, Alan Knight, for his guidance, sharp comments and careful reading of my work throughout the years that I was researching and writing this thesis at St Antony s. I am also grateful to Francisco Zapata at El Colegio de México for his help and support while I was conducting my fieldwork in Mexico from October 1994 to July I have also had many useful conversations and comments on various draft chapters of this work and must thank Daniel Díaz Fuentes, Nikki Craske, Laurence Whitehead, Kevin Middlebrook, Barbara Harriss-White, Mike Heller and Ngaire Woods. JUDITH CLIFTON

11 List of Abbreviations AHMSA ASPA ASSA ATM CANACINTRA CEL CEN CEPAL CFE CGOCM CGT CNC CNV CNOP CNTE COM CONASUPO CONCAMIN Altos Hornos de México Asociación Sindical de Pilotos Aviadores (Union Association of Pilots) Asociación Sindical de Sobrecargos de Aviación (Union Association for Airport Cargo Handlers) Alianza de Tranviarios de México (Alliance of Mexican Tram Workers) Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Transformación (National Chamber of Transformation Industry) Comité ejecutivo local (Local union executive committee) Comité ejecutivo nacional (National executive committee) Comisión Económica para América Latina (Economic Commission for Latin America) Compañía Federal de Electricidad (National Electricity Company) Confederación General de Obreros y Campesinos de México (General Confederation of Mexican Workers and Peasants) Confederación General de Trabajadores (General Confederation of Workers) Confederación Nacional Campesina (National Peasants Confederation) Comité nacional de vigilancia (National vigilance committee) Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Populares (National Confederation of Popular Organizations) Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (National Coordination of Education Workers) Casa del Obrero Mundial (House of the World Worker) Compañia Nacional de Subsistencias Populares (National Campaign for Popular Subsistence) Confederación de Cámaras Industriales (Confederation of Industrial Chambers) xi

12 xii List of Abbreviations COOC COPARMEX CROC CROM CT CTAL CTM CUT FDN FESEBES FNOC GATT IMF ISDN ISI JCA JFAC LFT MSF MT NAFTA OECD PAN PECE Coalición de Organizaciones Obreros y Campesinos (Coalition of Worker and Peasant Organizations) Confederación Patronal de la República Mexicana (Confederation of Management of the Mexican Republic) Confederación Regional de Obreros y Campesinos (Regional Confederation of Workers and Peasants) Confederación Regional Obrera Mexicana (Confederation of Regional Mexican Workers) Congreso de Trabajo (Labour Congress) Confederación de Trabajadores de América Latina (Confederation of Latin American Workers) Confederación de Trabajadores de México (Confederation of Mexican Workers) Confederación Única de Trabajadores (Unified Workers Confederation) Frente Democrática Nacional (National Democratic Front) Federación de Sindicatos de Empresas de Bienes y Servicios (Federation of Unions of Companies of Goods and Services) Frente Nacional de Obreros y Campesinos (National Front of Workers and Peasants) General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs International Monetary Fund Integrated Services Digital Network Import Substitution Industrialisation Juntas de Conciliación Arbitraje (Boards of Arbritration) Junta Federal de Arbitraje y Conciliación (Federal Board of Arbitration and Conciliation) Ley Federal de Trabajo (Federal Labour Law) Movimiento Sindical Ferrocarrilero (Railway Workers Union Movement) Movimiento Popular Urbano Territorial (Popular Movement of Urban Areas) North American Free Trade Agreement Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Partido de Acción Nacional (National Action Party) Pacto para la Estabilidad y el Crecimiento Económico (Pact for Stability and Economic Growth)

13 List of Abbreviations xiii PEMEX PIMES PIRE PNR PRD PRI PRM PRONASOL PSE SCT SHCP SICARTSA SITIAVW SME SNTE SNTMMSRM SPP STERM Petróleos Mexicanos (Mexican Petroleum) Programa para la Inmediata Mejoramiento del Servicio (Programme for the Immediate Improvement of Service) Programa para Inmediata Recuperación Económica (Programme for Immediate Economic Recovery) Partido Nacional Revolucionario (National Revolutionary Party) Partido de la Revolución Democrático (Party of the Democratic Revolution) Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Party of the Institutionalized Revolution) Partido de la Revolución Mexicana (Party of the Mexican Revolution) Programa Nacional de Solidaridad (National Solidarity Programme) Pacto de Solidaridad Económica (Pact of Economic Solidarity) Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes (Ministry of Communications and Transport) Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público (Ministry of Finance and Public Credit) Siderúrgica Lázaro Cárdenas-Las Truchas (Lázaro Cárdenas-Las Truchas Steel Plant) Sindicato Independiente de Trabajadores de la Industria Automotriz de Volkswagen (Independent Union of Workers of Volkswagen Automobiles) Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas (Mexican Union of Electricity Workers) Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (National Union of Education Workers) Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros, Metalúrgicos y Similares de la República Mexicana (National Union of Mining, Metallurgical and Related Workers of the Mexican Republic) Secretaría de Programación y Presupuesto (Ministry of Planning and Budgeting) Sindicato de Trabajadores Electricistas de la República Mexicana (Union of Electricity Workers of the Mexican Republic)

14 xiv List of Abbreviations STFRM STIC STPRM STPS STRM SUTERM TELMEX UOI VAM Sindicato de Trabajadores Ferrocarrileros de la República Mexicana (Union of Railway Workers of the Mexican Republic Sindicato de Técnicos y Manuales de la Industria Cinematográfica (Union of Technicians and Manual Workers of the Cinematography Industry) Sindicato de Trabajadores Petroleros de la República Mexicana (Union of Petroleum Workers of the Mexican Republic) Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (Ministry of Labour and Social Security) Sindicato de Telefonistas de la República Mexicana (Union of Telephone Workers of the Mexican Republic) Sindicato Unico de Trabajadores Electricistas de la República Mexicana (Unified Union of Electricity Workers of the Mexican Republic) Teléfonos de México (Mexican Telephone Company) Unidad Obrera Independiente (United Independent Workers) Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos (Mexican Motor Vehicles)