Allies across the Border: Mexico’s “Authentic Labour Front” and Global Solidarity by Dale Hathaway, Cambridge, Mass.: South End Press, 2000, 267 pp., ISBN: 0-89608-632-1.

Formally structured around the analysis of the history of Mexico’s “Authentic Labour Front” (Frente Auténtico del Trabajo-FAT), Dale Hathaway’s book deals with other central issues derived from the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) facing not only Mexican workers but also U.S. and Canadian labour. The “Authentic Labour Front” is an unusual labour organization. In spite of the fact that it is not a massive organization, it has contributed to the promotion of labour rights in various regions of the country and to the education of labour leaders through its union training program (“formación sindical”). Also, it plays a significant role in the organization of workers in various economic branches such as leather, shoe and clothing manufacturing in Guanajuato and auto parts and beverages in Chihuahua (it organized a union in Pepsi Cola bottling facility in that city). In addition, in the 1970s and1980s, FAT followed up on its successful campaign in organizing workers in the states of Guanajuato and Chihuahua and started to promote unionization of the Rivetex textile factory in the state of Morelos and by putting forward demands for the autonomy of labour from the State. Its success at organizing in the 1970s provoked president Luis Echeverría (1970-1976) to counterattack and promote the creation of the so-called radical Unión Obrera Independiente-UOI (Independent Workers Union), which made inroads in the automobile industry, such as Volkswagen and Nissan, thus limiting FAT’s expansion in that branch of the economy. Ideologically speaking, by postulating a set of guiding principles focused on (a) union freedom and the promotion of union democracy, (b) independence from political parties, and (c) the constant struggle for the material and spiritual elevation of the working class, FAT succeeded in challenging the corporatist subordination of the official Mexican labour movement to the State. It is worthwhile to mention the emphasis that Dale Hathaway places on two questions that are central to the understanding of the capacity of FAT to survive and grow within Mexico’s corporatist system of labour representation: first, the early awareness of the importance of the international dimension in labour action and, second, its commitment to the principles of self-management of production facilities. Beyond its focus on unionization, leadership training and self-management, FAT also expanded its reformist perspective to include other forms of social mobilization such as the women’s movement, the cooperative sector and peasant and shantytown dweller groups. This effort to go beyond workers’ demands enabled FAT to question the impact that the new model of development—centered on free trade, privatization of state enterprise and the flexibilization of work—had on the life of Mexican popular sectors. FAT contributed to the creation of the Mexican Action Network Confronting Free Trade (RMCLC) and to a profound debate on the impact of NAFTA and the implications that it would have on employment, salaries, labour turnover, rural-urban migration and the economic geography of the country. In addition, together with the United Electrical Workers Union in the United States, it developed strategies to organize workers in the US where a majority of Mexican migrants were located. This strategy benefited from the election in 1995 of John Sweeney as president of the AFL-CIO because the new leadership of the confederation strongly contributed to the formation of a North American labour coalition, as is exemplified by the creation of an AFL-CIO representative office in Mexico City. As respect for democratic elections deepened in Mexico from 1988 onwards, the need for a democratization of the labour relations system also became important. In this regard, in 1997, FAT, together with the Telephone Workers Union and the National Teachers Union participated in …