Uploaded November 2017 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Martha Ojeda, senior field organizer with Interfaith Worker Justice received the Tony Mazzocchi Award which recognizes grassroots activists in community organizations or local labor unions who are fighting for the health and safety rights of workers.
Ms. Ojeda worked for 20 years in maquiladoras in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. In 1994, she led the movement of Sony workers to improve their working conditions. Thousands of women took the streets demanding their rights to form unions, and they were beaten and brutally repressed by police forces. The government ordered Ojeda’s arrest.
The Sony workers’ case was the first action brought by the U.S. Department of Labor against the Mexican government under the labor side agreements of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. Ms. Ojeda immigrated to the U.S. to escape persecution by the Mexican government. Law students in San Antonio, TX supported her to secure political asylum. Ms. Ojeda has served in leadership positions in numerous social justice organizations, including the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras and Fe y Justicia Worker Center. She graduated from the University of Saltillo and the Centre for University Studies and has a law degree. Ms. Ojeda has been a leader in connecting local worker justice centers to the occupational health and safety movement
Martha Ojeda, senior field organizer with Interfaith Worker Justice received the Tony Mazzocchi Award which recognizes grassroots activists in community organizations or local labor unions who are fighting for the health and safety rights of workers.
Ms. Ojeda worked for 20 years in maquiladoras in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. In 1994, she led the movement of Sony workers to improve their working conditions. Thousands of women took the streets demanding their rights to form unions, and they were beaten and brutally repressed by police forces. The government ordered Ojeda’s arrest.
The Sony workers’ case was the first action brought by the U.S. Department of Labor against the Mexican government under the labor side agreements of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. Ms. Ojeda immigrated to the U.S. to escape persecution by the Mexican government. Law students in San Antonio, TX supported her to secure political asylum. Ms. Ojeda has served in leadership positions in numerous social justice organizations, including the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras and Fe y Justicia Worker Center. She graduated from the University of Saltillo and the Centre for University Studies and has a law degree. Ms. Ojeda has been a leader in connecting local worker justice centers to the occupational health and safety movement
