The government of Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón is waging a war against the country’s independent trade unions. His government attempted to destroy the electrical workers’ union by announcing the liquidation of the state-owned Central Light and Power Company, which provided electricity to Mexico City and neighbouring states, resulting in the sacking of 45,000 workers. A collective agreement was ignored and pensions were destroyed.
More recently, the focus was on the US-based auto parts company, Johnson Controls, in Puebla. The government watched as the management collaborated in assaults by thugs associated with the Confederacion de Organizaciones Sindicales, a puppet union. They attacked members of the independent National Union of Mine and Metal Workers, the newly recognised union at the company, which had ousted its puppet predecessor.
The 280,000-strong union, known as Los Mineros, has since borne the brunt of serious violence in an attempt to smash it. Union officials have been arrested. Union leader Napoleon Gomez has been forced into exile in Canada, where he continues to run the organisation with the help of United Steelworkers.
Members of Los Mineros at the Cananea copper mine in Mexico’s Sonora state have been on strike for three years over health and safety. The mine was closed and Grupo Mexico, the multinational mining company, claims it has lost $1.5 billion in revenue in its efforts to break the union.
A court judgment found Gomez not guilty of wrongdoing in regard to a trust fund established after a number of state mines were privatised in the late 1980s. An independent audit, conducted by Swiss accountants Horwath Berney Audit SA, has completely exonerated Gomez of any wrongdoing. Several court rulings in Mexico have dismissed the federal government’s charges against Gomez and his officials. However, the country’s rulers have repeatedly ignored previous court decisions and continue to persecute Los Mineros. One Los Mineros official, Juan Linares, remains a political prisoner without bail in Mexico City under false charges stemming from allegations of fraud.
On June 6, the Mexican government deployed 3,000 armed police against striking Los Mineros members at the copper mine in Cananea. In the dead of night, tear gas was fired into the union’s offices and arrest warrants were issued for the leadership of Section 65 of Los Mineros. There are unconfirmed reports that two union members were killed in the police action. Police also stormed Grupo Mexico’s Pasta de Conchos mine in the state of Coahuila, site of an explosion in 2006 that killed 65 miners. Paramilitaries expelled the family members of the dead miners, who have been campaigning to recover the bodies of their loved ones.
Grupo Mexico insists the timing of these two police actions was “coincidental”. However, Napoleon Gomez has called the disaster at Pasta de Conchos “industrial homicide”. According to Los Mineros, safety standards had been in freefall at Grupo Mexico’s mines for years – the result of the aggressive privatisation of state-run resources by the right-wing administrations of presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón. Grupo Mexico has close ties with the Mexican government.
Following Gomez’ outspoken attacks on the government after the Pasta de Conchos explosion, charges of corruption were levelled against him. It was claimed he had embezzled millions of dollars from the union’s funds. There have also been death threats against Gomez, his family and union officials.
Gomez continues to run his union and negotiate agreements. He has even expanded his base of support. He has been re-elected unanimously six times since his first election in 2001 and the overwhelming majority of the Los Mineros membership remain loyal to him. However, the Calderón government continues to seek his extradition and has moved to seize Los Mineros’ assets.
While the Cananea strike is over health and safety, it is also demonstrates support for Gomez, while the government and company actions are all about controlling wealth. The Cananea mine is worth billions of dollars to Grupo Mexico and the government. They are prepared to secure it with armed troops.
Meanwhile, in an important development, the United Steelworkers and Los Mineros have announced the creation of a commission to explore the possibility of a merger. If an amalgamation is achieved, it could consolidate North American industrial union strength and build on the advances of the global union, Workers Uniting, created by Unite in Britain and Ireland and the United Steelworkers in the US and Canada.
The international trade union movement is seeking to publicise what is going on in the backyard of the US. The USW has lobbied President Barack Obama. The International Metal Workers Federation and the International Chemical, Energy and General Workers Unions are committed to supporting Los Mineros and highlighting the harassment of Napoleon Gomez, who remains the biggest barrier to Grupo Mexico’s breaking of a union determined to fight for its future as the corporation seeks unfettered access to the wealth of a nation.
Tony Burke is assistant general secretary of Unite
