The Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers ( es, Confederación Regional Obrera Mexicana, CROM) is a federation of

labor unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, whose power was at its height between 1918 and 1928. CROM was an umbrella organization for both industrial workers as well as agricultural workers and peasants. Industrial unions of railway workers, petroleum workers, and textile workers were strong enough on their own that they could function without CROM's support.Carr, Barry, "Industrial Labor: 1910-1940" in ''Encyclopedia of Mexico''. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997, pp. 688-89. It was founded in Saltillo in 1918 at a congress of labor delegates called by

Mexican President The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the C ...

Venustiano Carranza José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920) was a Mexican wealthy land owner and politician who was Governor of Coahuila when the constitutionally elected president Francisco I. Madero was overthrown in a February ...

. The federation, of which Luis Napoleón Morones Negrete was a major leader, marked a departure from the traditionally-

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...

stance of Mexican labor to a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

position. From its inception, the CROM was controlled by a small group of union leaders, ''Grupo Acción'' ("Action Group") which supported the post-revolutionary Mexican government. Bandera del Partido Laborista Mexicano

After supporting Carranza, who was overthrown in 1920, the CROM was a key base of support for two of his successors,

Álvaro Obregón Álvaro Obregón Salido (; 17 February 1880 – 17 July 1928) better known as Álvaro Obregón was a Sonoran-born general in the Mexican Revolution. A pragmatic centrist, natural soldier, and able politician, he became the 46th President of Me ...

and

Plutarco Elías Calles Plutarco Elías Calles (25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a general in the Mexican Revolution and a Sonoran politician, serving as President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928. The 1924 Calles presidential campaign was the first populist ...

, two of the three Sonoran revolutionary generals who dominated Mexico in the 1920s. The political vehicle of the federation was the Mexican Laborist Party. Under Obregón, the labor movement was co-opted as its leaders were appointed to posts within the government. By the end of Obregón's term, labor had abandoned its goal of destroying capital in favor of establishing a balance between capital and labor that would benefit workers. Labor leaders defended the government's right, established in Article 123 of the

Constitution of 1917 The Constitution of Mexico, formally the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States ( es, Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in th ...

, to arbitrate labor disputes, since they felt that their interests were represented in the government. Radical elements of the labor movement, horrified by the cooption, formed their own federation, the '' Confederación General de Trabajadores'' (CGT), in 1921. The result of the split was disorientation within the movement, and workers became disillusioned with both the CROM and the CGT. Nonetheless, workers won some rights but gradually and threatening neither the revolutionary government nor the growth of capitalism. In 1921, in a prelude to the

Cristero War The Cristero War ( es, Guerra Cristera), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or es, La Cristiada, label=none, italics=no , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 1 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementa ...

, the Mexican

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

declared membership in the CROM a mortal sin. That proclamation failed to deter Mexicans from joining the federation or participating in its street demonstrations. Under Calles, the government gained even greater control over the CROM by its grip over ''Grupo Acción''. The CROM essentially monopolized union membership, claiming over one million workers and five hundred organized peasants among its members. In reality, there were only about twenty thousand dues-paying members. Calles wielded influence over the CROM through Morones, whom he appointed the Minister of commerce and industry. By 1928, however, Calles had become distrustful of Morones, who had presidential ambitions. He was also wary of labor's

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

interpretation of the revolution. He broke the CROM's power by ordering the federal arbitrating bureaucracies to declare all CROM strikes illegal. The CROM's leadership had become so corrupt that it had lost its influence with the rank and file and was thus unable to organize action in its favor. Calles's successor,

Emilio Portes Gil Emilio Cándido Portes Gil (; 3 October 1890 – 10 December 1978) was President of Mexico from 1928 to 1930, one of three to serve out the six-year term of President-elect General Álvaro Obregón, who had been assassinated in 1928. Since th ...

, began removing CROM officials from government positions. Vicente Lombardo Toledano, a dissident in the CROM, organized a faction called "Purified CROM" that left the federation in 1932, leaving the CROM to represent only a few unions in the textile industry. The Purified CROM became the

Confederation of Mexican Workers The Confederation of Mexican Workers (''Confederación de Trabajadores de México'' (CTM)) is the largest confederation of labor unions in Mexico. For many years, it was one of the essential pillars of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional ( ...

(CTM) in 1936, allying with the

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...

President

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the Me ...

and the ruling

Party of the Mexican Revolution The Institutional Revolutionary Party ( es, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, ; abbr. PRI) is a political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 and held uninterrupted power in the country for 71 years, from 1929 to 2000, first as the Nati ...

. In the following years, the CTM eclipsed the CROM. The CROM continues to exist, and is the third largest labor federation in Mexico, supporting the PRD.

References

Further reading