When Benedicto Martinez was elected to the leadership of the Frente Autentico del Trabajo, it… When Benedicto Martinez was elected to the leadership of the Frente Autentico del Trabajo, it was a triumph over 71 years of corruption.

FAT – known in English as the Authentic Worker’s Front – is an independent labor movement in Mexico. In a nation where corrupt government officials have traditionally run some labor unions, an independent labor movement is something to celebrate.

But Martinez and other leaders in labor movements both in Mexico and in the United States believe that much more needs to be done. To this end, they’ve begun teaching people about unions and what they stand for. This was the purpose behind “Why Unions Matter,” a forum set up by Students in Solidarity.

“We want to have some discussions and education on why unions are important,” said Paul Cooley, one of the event’s organizers. “We want to find out what other unions are doing in the fight for socioeconomic justice.”

The idea of one union learning about how another is fighting the fight and working to cooperate with them was the prevailing theme of the evening. Bob Kingsley, the national elected leader of the Organization for the United Electrical Workers, explained that it’s no longer possible for unions to stand on their own. They have to work together.

Kingsley said that with union membership declining every year, modern labor unions must work together, enlisting the aid of other unions to support each others’ protests and boycotts.

“It isn’t just a matter of asking for help when we need it, but returning help when they need it,” Kingsley said. “We cannot do it alone.”

He explained how this could be applied to the international stage, as corporations begin to look for cheaper labor in other countries.

“We must confront globalization,” Kingsley said. “America’s corporate masters have thrust workers into a race for the bottom. Whoever will work for the least gets the job … The answer to this race is not to compete and cause there to be losers, but to go to other nations and raise standards there.

“Unions will matter through global solidarity.”

Martinez was present for that reason. The FAT, Martinez said, has struggled for decades to achieve a labor movement independent of government officials.

“These corrupt union leaders become millionaires, and maintain absolute control over workers thanks to positions in the government,” Martinez said.

These government officials were recently on the verge of burying the FAT’s requests for a democratically elected union leadership, when they began to receive letters and telegrams from the UE. Martinez explained that the Mexican government fears the impression that they are corrupt, undemocratic and under scrutiny from the United States, and had no choice but to allow FAT’s request for democratic elections among workers.

As he closed his statements for the evening, Martinez summed it up: “We have to work together, or unions are condemned to disappear.”