A friend who works, excuse me, worked for GE here in Hendersonville for
15 yrs. told me some interesting things about the movement of the plant
to Juarez, Mexico a few yrs back. I will give you some web sites to
visit if you would like, but here is what I have found concerning the
effect of NAFTA in helping to better the Mexicans lifes as some have
stated to me recently.

7. The Political and Social Situation in Mexico has Deteriorated with
the Economy



NAFTA supporters argued that an important reason to pass NAFTA was to
strengthen democracy and improve political and economic stability in
Mexico.(37) The opposite has occurred. Anticipation of NAFTA's negative
effects sparked the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas on NAFTA's January 1,
1994 implementation date. The poverty-stricken Mayan Indian peasants in
the region said NAFTA was their "death sentence."(38) National protests
supporting the Zapatistas ensued as the Mexican military killed and
tortured Mayan prisoners as documented by Amnesty International.(39)

A series of political assassinations followed the Chiapas revolt,
including the murder of PRI presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio
and that of the second ranking PRI official, Jose F. Ruiz Massieu.
Former Mexican president Carlos Salinas' brother was arrested for
masterminding the Massieu killing. He remains in jail. Meanwhile,
Mexico's former deputy attorney general and brother of Massieu, was
arrested in the U.S. on allegations of links to drug traffickers and the
cover up of his brother's assassination. The whereabouts of former
Mexican President Carlos Salinas, creator of NAFTA, who was presented to
the American public and Congress during the NAFTA debate as a reformer
and man of integrity, are unknown after he fled Mexico in the spring of
1995. A poll conducted in 1995 found that 90% of Mexicans felt that
President Salinas should be tried for treason.(40) An August 1996 poll
found that 2 out of three Mexicans believe that government corruption
has increased under current Mexican President Zedillo.(41) The Mexican
federal police are increasingly beyond civilian government control and a
growing source of fear and mayhem for the Mexican people.

Seeing how people hate cut and paste this is only a small section of one
(1) article I have found. the rest of this article can be found and read
at:
<http://www.citizen.org/trade/nafta/votes/articles.cfm?ID=1718>

This article will tell you the agreement associated with the laws that
brought about congressional approval of NAFTA, and explain how it has
really worked and the violations of the aggreement made between
corporations and congress.

My friend was excited, not because of what you just read, but because GE
is thinking of moving the plant back. They have had lawsuits filed
against them by the Mexian Unions, yes I said Unions, for unfair labor
practices in Mexico. Things like forceing pregnant women to work without
maternity time off, and pre employment pregnancy test. When GE told the
Mexican Government that they were going to pull out of Mexico and move
back to the US, the Mexican Government told them that all they would
allow GE to take with them (machinery and such)is what they could fit in
a pickup truck. LMAO here is one such problem in regard to the lawsuits
filed. Notice the pay scale.....

....., maintenance technician, ..... service with the company: 10
years; salary: $12 a day; fired the 25th of November, 1993.

On the 25th of November at 9:30 in the morning, a security guard named
..... instructed him to accompany him to the personnel office where they
wanted to speak to him. ....., head of personnel, told him: I'm going to
read you a letter in which the company accuses you that on the 3rd of
November of 1993 you left your work area without permission from your
supervisor, in order to distribute flyers in the interior of the plant
and for that reason the company has from that date fired you from your
work. The worker denied the accusation as false, since from the first
day of November he had left to enjoy his vacation and had not returned
to the plant until the 12th of November. This is to say that from the
1st to the 12th of November he had not entered the plant for any reason.
The worker asked for proof of the accusation from ..... but the only
thing that he showed him were some photographs in which he saw .....,
organizer of the F.A.T., outside of the plant distributing flyers. The
worker asked for a written statement for the reasons for his discharge.
..... denied him a written statement, and in doing so the company
violated Article 47 of the Federal Labor Law of Mexico. The company also
refused to pay the worker for the two weeks that he had worked. Attached
is a copy of the proof of the vacation pay which was given to .....
which demonstrates the arbitrary manner in which ..... acted, accusing
the worker of something which was totally false, since he was enjoying
his vacation at the time.
web site:
http://www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/nao/submissions/Sub940002.htm#ii

6. Mexico's Economy is in a State of Crisis and is Not a Significant
Source of Consumer Demand for U.S. Goods



Mexico remains in its worst economic crisis in decades. By August 1995,
Mexican earnings had fallen 12% from the year before(29) and by August
1996, real hourly wages in Mexico stood at half their 1980 level.(30)
Mexico's foreign debt has increased by over $30 billion in the first
three and one half years of NAFTA, putting in perspective the so-called
peso "bailout." The Mexican economy lost 1,850,000 jobs in 1995,
increasing the pressure on poor Mexicans to migrate to the United
States.(31) An estimated 40,000,000 Mexicans, nearly half the
population, lived on less than $5 per day in 1996.(32) According to a
study by Mexico's National Autonomous University, three years into
NAFTA, 50% of Mexicans are considered to be "extremely poor" compared to
31% in 1993 before NAFTA.(33) 10% of Mexicans accounted for 70% of all
consumer spending in 1996.(34)

Isn't it correct that Mexico City has the largest slum in the world?

eh, someone was chasitiseing me the other day saying we could give up
our luxuries if it benefitted Mexico....
I was responding with facts.
They dont want facts??????

Well corruption is the problem in Mexico, I think. They need to fix
that, not us.

wow i thought it was calcutta,india but even so why do mwe have to bail
mexico out or any other country..on the other hand they will be running
here in droves.

You may be correct about the largest slum Mom. I wasn't sure and was
asking a question.

remember the alamo

MEXICO CITY (AP) - A pilot program to allow Mexican trucks into all
areas of the United States should be in place by July, a top U.S. trade
official said Tuesday.

Access to the U.S. by Mexican trucks has been delayed for years by
safety and environmental concerns and resistance from U.S. truckers.

NAFTA - the North American Free Trade Agreement. Think of all the
reasons why this commission was put into affect. Better yet, think of
all the reasons "we" were given for this effort.

Have we, as American Citizens been concerned since it's conception?
Have we requested continued updates into how it was working? Do we ever
give it much thought, until something like this occurs?

Now, I wonder about the bigger picture. Was it put into place for a
reason beyond what the public was told. Misinformation is great tool of
governments, when placating masses of unassuming citizens.

The recent information we've encountered from links provided in these
topics has shown that this country is right there on top of reorganizing
monetary and financial systems in an effort to attain a more global
market. Perhaps NAFTA had a purpose altogether different from the one
we were told.

No matter, it seems to have failed, or did it?

Personally (IMO) I believe NAFTA was/is for the making the rich richer
and the poor poorer. As now a lot of the plants that paid good wages to
the working man. Have left and went to other countries. Why? I believe
at least thier was a hefty terriff tax on every thing entering the USA.
Since this tax was done away the big businesses..ie..car plants excedera
were closed and went to other countries. I spoke to a friend who owns a
large Chrysler dealership and he told me a Regional Manager came around
traveling from dealership to dealership and he said a plant that they
had closed with 3000 employees making a average wage of 25 dollars an
hour not including benefits. That they had opened a state of the art
plant in mexico. The average wage being paid thier was $2.45 a day. He
also said that the head hancho's of chrysler claims that all they sAVE
IS $1700.00 A CAR. Well if this is true I would gladly pay 1700 more for
a car to keep 3000 jobs at 25 dollars an hour here in the U.S. Miles

I would agree with you Miles. How are we gonna buy their products if we
don't have jobs?

They are making to many cars anyway.

Have you ever stopped and counted how many cars are in an average sales
lot? Have you wondered how many sales lots are in an average city?

How in the world are we expected to buy that many cars? What are they
wasting all those irreplaceable items that go into the manufacuture of a
car or truck.

Yet still they build more. No wonder why the price is so high. They
build more than we can buy but must build more so you can keep your
spoiled butt at a job.

If our civilization was to vanish and 10000 years from now someone dug
up its remains all that would be left would be miles upon miles of
rusted metal rotted upholstery and fractured damaged glass.

I was referring to industry as a whole not just the auto industry. I've
worked since 2 days after I graduated high school. I am fortunate enough
to live in a land of plenty but I don't consider myself spoiled. I've
worked for what I have.

AB...you'd like a sci fi book I read years ago...about an alien species
that lands
a pyramid thing in the middle of nowhere and starts spitting out 1957
chevrolets..
goes on for years and humankind is reduced to moving all these car
replicas all
over the place creating avenues of cars..filling canyons with
cars...etc...

anyway..it was very funny & insightful...wish I could remember the
name..hmmm