Mehring Books is pleased to announce the publication of a new pamphlet, The 2019 workers’ rebellion in Matamoros, Mexico by WSWS writer Andrea Lobo.

In the first three months of 2019, tens of thousands of Mexican workers struck against the maquiladora factories in Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville Texas. Defying threats from the companies, corporate-controlled unions, police and military, they shut down a significant portion of the closely-interconnected North American automobile supply chain, halting or curtailing production in several assembly plants in the US and Canada.

Key to organizing their struggles across different companies and sectors was the formation of rank-and-file strike committees, which enabled the workers to defy pro-company union leaders and the newly-elected government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO).

With some 70,000 workers on strike, amid a total media blackout, the World Socialist Web Site played a key role in winning broader support for their struggle, reporting daily and exposing the attempts, especially by “left” apologists for the unions, to trick them into returning to work.

Through mass assemblies, social media and the WSWS coverage, workers discussed and decided on their demands and tactics, and appealed to workers—themselves facing layoffs and plant shutdowns—across Mexico, the US and Canada and internationally.

This pamphlet examines the political history of different forces, including the “independent unions” in Mexico, aligned with the US AFL-CIO labor federation and the Democratic Party. It advances an independent political perspective for the working class and the need to unite workers across borders on the basis of the program of international socialism.

Available in English and Spanish from Mehring.com for $3.50; $3.00 each for orders of 3 or more.