In April, a vote at the GM plant in Silao where you worked “ratified” the plant’s new contract. Then, amazingly, a re-vote in August reversed that decision. The Silao union has belonged to the CTM, the Confederation of Mexican Workers, and gone by the name of the “Miguel Trujillo Lopez union.” Who’s this Miguel Trujillo Lopez, and how would you describe the CTM?

Miguel Trujillo had been head of the union in our plant for so many years it was like he owned it, so everyone called the union by his name. The CTM works with the company against us. The Miguel Trujillo folks counted the first ratification vote, so it was no surprise that they found that they had “won.” Later, in no surprise to workers, it came out that the CTM had destroyed ballots. The real surprise: We got a re-vote!

Within the Silao factory you helped organize the dissatisfied workers who formed the Generando Movimiento. Management at the plant then fired 18 dissidents. Were you fired for organizing?

GM didn’t actually “fire” us organizers. They asked to accept a voluntary termination with no benefits. Most of the 18 accepted. They felt they had no choice. They have families to support and needed to find other ways to make a living quickly. Only three of us are challenging this “voluntary” termination and are filing lawsuits to get our jobs back.

“General Motors” to us is “Generando Movimiento” because the way they treat us “generates movement” against them. We need a union controlled by workers to force GM to improve our jobs. We’ve had dissatisfaction at our plant for a long time, but now we’ve turned anger into organization.

You spoke out in support of your fellow autoworkers in the US. How did you find out about the UAW strike in 2019?

At my factory, we had really bad conditions. We were working 12-hour days. In August 2019, I was sent videos of the UAW strikers, and I could relate to their anger. I found out more about the strike from reports from the International Committee of the Fourth International, Trotsky’s group. Autoworkers in different countries must stand united.

Are you getting any financial help?

None. We have no unemployment benefits, no funds for fired workers, no help from the UAW. We fired workers are on our own.

Now that workers at the Silao plant have rejected the charro contract by a big margin, do you think more workers will join Generando Movimiento?

I do. Workers are also feeling upset over the company’s disregard for our safety during Covid. Eighteen workers have died. The plant re-opened in May 2020 without certification from the health department. We felt like they were sending us into a slaughterhouse. We held several protests and zoom press conferences to let the public know that vehicles count more to GM than human lives.

But we have real divisions among the workers in Silao. Many are afraid of taking risks. We’re working hard to convince them to join our movement.

Generando Movimiento initiated the formation of SINTTIA, the new Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores y trabajoras de la Industria Automotriz. What’s next?

We’ve legally registered as a union with the Mexican labor department, and we hope to win a vote to have SINTTIA represent workers in Silao. But our Movimiento doesn’t just want a new union for our own factory. To have the power to change our conditions, we need a national union for autoworkers and auto parts makers, a union to represent those working for Japanese and German factories too. That’s our goal.