15 August, 2011
The Mexican government of President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa ordered the army and police to use brute force to take over the country’s second largest electrical power distributor, Luz y Fuerza del Centro (LyFC) in October 2010 via an executive decree. This unilateral decree also meant shutting down the 95-year-old Mexican Electrical Workers’ Union (SME) and sacking 44,000 workers.
The Calderón administration has conducted a multifaceted campaign to destroy the SME, one of only a handful of independent trade unions in Mexico, as part of the government’s systematic plan to eliminate any workers’ group which stands in the way of business interests and unencumbered markets. In July 2010, SME members reelected General Secretary Martín Esparza, but Calderón’s regime has refused to certify the election, citing bogus voting irregularities.
The SME has had its union bank accounts frozen, 13 union activists are political prisoners in jail, and now arrest warrants have been issued for the SME leadership. This shocking campaign of state violence against a trade union must be combated with global solidarity.
The ICEM encourages affiliates and trade union supporters to be heard on this matter. Click here for a model letter, in Spanish, to Calderón and his cronies. Put the letter on your organisation’s letterhead, or individually with your name, and send it electronically to SME here.