Mexican government mines a murderous seam

Accounts of widespread intimidation and repression by the Mexican government against a mining union for attempting to call a major international copper producer to book, got a hearing this week in Downing Street. A delegation of Mexican trade unionists visited Gordon Brown to enlist his support in its campaign to stop the attacks.

by Tribune Web Editor
Friday, November 9th, 2007

by Jim Mallory

Accounts of widespread intimidation and repression by the Mexican government against a mining union for attempting to call a major international copper producer to book, got a hearing this week in Downing Street. A delegation of Mexican trade unionists visited Gordon Brown to enlist his support in its campaign to stop the attacks.

At issue is the failure to act against Grupo Mexico, the world’s third largest copper producer, following a methane explosion at Pasta de Chonchos in 2006, when 65 miners were killed. Last month, the Mexican congress ruled Grupo was responsible for the explosion.

The Calderon government stands accused by Mexico’s National Union of Mine and Metal Workers of, among other things, producing false evidence against its general secretary, Napoleon Gomez Urrutia – who has been forced to flee to Canada – and deploying security forces against the union, resulting in three members’ deaths.
Overnight recognition was granted to a pro-company union with elections held in which members were forced to vote in front of company officials, and there were allegations that Grupo organised the murder of an union official and the detention and torture of 20 other members.

Michael Leahy, general secreary of Community, the union which represents British steelworkers, said: “Mexico is failing the test of a civilised society as trade unions are being allowed to operate freely and without state interference.”

Trade between Britan and Mexico, as well as British investment, has greatly increased in recent years.

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  • James Hannan

    You are mistaken. The reason the explosion took place at the Pasta de Conchos mine was because the law in Mexico specifically said that ONLY PEMEX could handle any gas. This being the case, IMMSA could never remove the gas from the mine. PEMEX was not interested in methane from any coal mine. So the miners worked in high concentrations of gas – a perfect setup for an explosion. The Mexican congress always rejected any proposed change in that law because the leftists proclaimed all PEMEX activities belonged to the people of Mexico. Every member of the congress since that law was enacted has the blood of those miners and others on their hands. Sorry to tell you the dirty truth of this matter. By the way, the law has most recently been changed.

  • James Hannan

    You are mistaken. The reason the explosion took place at the Pasta de Conchos mine was because the law in Mexico specifically said that ONLY PEMEX could handle any gas. This being the case, IMMSA could never remove the gas from the mine. PEMEX was not interested in methane from any coal mine. So the miners worked in high concentrations of gas – a perfect setup for an explosion. The Mexican congress always rejected any proposed change in that law because the leftists proclaimed all PEMEX activities belonged to the people of Mexico. Every member of the congress since that law was enacted has the blood of those miners and others on their hands. Sorry to tell you the dirty truth of this matter. By the way, the law has most recently been changed.

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