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3 May, 2010
Grupo México’s sustained attack on the National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM), or Los Mineros, was set back on 23 April, when a criminal court in the Federal District of Mexico dismissed a criminal complaint filed against Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, the union’s general secretary.
The company’s court case had accused the Los Mineros head of guilt in regard to financial irregularities during the creation and then dissolution of a workers’ trust. With Grupo México alleging that $US 55 million had been embezzled by Los Mineros leadership, the court found this to be not true, with no evidence of any crime committed by the union.
Napoleón Gómez
The ICEM has repeatedly reported on Grupo México’s attempts to block the rights of its workers to organise and bargain collectively. As general secretary, Napoleón Gómez Urrutia is forced to operate the union remotely from exile in Canada, and the 23 April decision in Court Number 32 acquits him of the only valid arrest warrant against him.
The court decision needs ratification from the criminal division of the country’s High Court of Justice, where the Attorney General will appeal. However, the ruling does have “Res judicata,” meaning that the decision is final and the defendant cannot be tried twice under the same charges.
Since 2006, when the first criminal charges were made against him, the authorities together with Grupo México have sustained judicial pressure through numerous cases and intricate legal disputes.
The ICEM is attending the 36th Congress of Los Mineros, starting today, Monday, 3 May in Mexico. One issue high on the agenda is the struggle of workers at the Cananea mine in Sonora State, where some 1,200 workers have been on strike since July 2007. As reported, Grupo México has again teamed with the Mexican government to seek to end the strike, while the picket line has held firm. The Mexican Supreme Court recently backed Grupo México’s decision to close the mine.
Los Mineros activists have refused to allow Cananea to be handed over to the company, and responded to the Supreme Court decision with a promise to destroy the mine if the authorities attempt to take it by force. “We plan to burn it, if they attempt to force us out,” stated Los Mineros spokesman Sergio Bultran.
The ICEM, and the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), participated in a demonstration outside the headquarters of Grupo México in Mexico City on 23 April following a regional meeting of the IMF. The demonstration by some 300 mineworkers and others called on the company to come to the bargaining table to negotiate, and to resolve strikes at Sections 65, 201, and 17 of SNTMMSRM.
Demonstrators urged the company and the government not to violently move strikers out of Cananea. IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina was refused the right to deliver a letter to company Chairman and CEO German Larrea, or to any company official. The letter reiterating the support for joint ICEM/IMF affiliate Los Mineros, and the call for justice was finally delivered to a security guard at the front door.
Raina criticised the company for refusing to meet. “We are looking to Mr. Larrea, but they tell us they do not have time. Is it because they are counting their pesos or dollars?”