Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers

CROM

Full name	Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers
Native name	Confederación Regional Obrera Mexicana
Founded	1918
Country	Mexico
Website	crom.mx

The Confederación Regional Obrera Mexicana (CROM) (Spanish: "Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers") is a federation of labor unions in Mexico.

It was founded in Saltillo in 1918 at a congress of labor delegates called by Mexican President Venustiano Carranza. The federation, of which Luis Napoleón Morones was a major leader, marked a departure from the traditionally anarchist stance of Mexican labor to a nationalist position.

From its inception, the CROM was controlled by a small group of union leaders called Grupo Acción ("Action Group") who supported the post-revolutionary government.

After supporting President Carranza, the CROM was a key base of support for two of his successors, Álvaro Obregón and Plutarco Elías Calles. The political vehicle of the federation was the Mexican Labor 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, 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, albeit at a gradual pace that did threatened neither the revolutionary government nor the growth of capitalism.

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