9 August, 2010
Good relations between the ICEM affiliate Mexican National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union (SNTMMSRM), or Los Mineros, and Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal have made it possible for the union to post 14% overall gains in renewal negotiations recently.
The contract covers 4,000 steelworkers at massive ArcelorMittal’s Lázaro Cárdenas SA de CV complex in Michoacan state.
The new agreement was signed on Wednesday, 4 August, in Vancouver, Canada, between Los Mineros General Secretary Napoleón Gomez Urrutia, Sergio Beltrán Reyes, Javier Zuñiga García of the union’s executive, and Mario García Ortíz of Los Mineros in Michoacan state, with William Chisholm, CEO of ArcelorMittal Mexico, and Jose Luis Fuentes Quiroz Director of Human Resources.
from left, ArcelorMittal’s Jose Luis Fuentes Quiroz-Pacheco and William Chisholm, Los Mineros General Secretary Napoleón Gómez, Sergio Beltrán Reyes, the union’s Secretary of Interior, Exterior and Acts
The agreement was signed in Canada where Napoleón Gomez continues to lead the union while in exile.
There was no involvement by the Mexican Ministry of Labour in the negotiations.
The new agreement increases direct wages by 8%, and benefits by 6%, to be paid retroactively from 1 May 2010. The agreement also includes a one-time payment of US$1,300 to each worker for outside social benefits, including those permanently employed and those employed through subcontractors.
Los Mineros and ArcelorMittal had been negotiating for several weeks prior to a 1 August expiration of a prior agreement. It was extended by three days to allow the Los Mineros leadership to attend the 14th National Mineworkers Forum on 30 July in Cananea, marking the third anniversary of the Cananea copper strike in northern Sonora state.
Standing: Javier Zuñiga García, Los Mineros Secretary of Labor, and Mario García Ortíz, Los Mineros Section 271 Special Delegate from Michoacan
ArcelorMittal posted net profits in second quarter 2010 of US$1.7 billion. This compares to a net loss of US$792 million for the same period in 2009. At Lázaro Cárdenas, Los Mineros gave approval in May for merger of the company’s four business units, a move that will give the company greater flexibility and mobility of raw materials and resources between its flat steel and slab steel production processes.
Prior to the signing of the ArcelorMittal collective agreement, meetings were held in Canada between Napoleón Gomez and another General Secretary of an ICEM-affiliated Latin American mining trade union, Luis Castillo Carlos of the National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union (FNTMMSP).
Meeting in Vancouver on 21-24 July, the two General Secretaries discussed regional issues facing mineworkers, looking towards building a strategic regional alliance.
The two unions share common difficulties with Grupo México, the mining corporation that is accused of corrupt ties with the Calderón government in Mexico. Grupo México’s Southern Copper subsidiaries in Peru include mines at Toquepala and Cuajote, and smelters and refineries in the Moquegua and Tacna regions. FNTMMSP has been attempting to negotiate with Southern Peru Copper for eight months in the Tacna region, but has faced repeated refusals from management on union demands.
Both unions face governments that systematically side with employers in disputes with workers. Currently, the Peruvian Minister of Labour, Manuela García Cochagne, is refusing to mediate talks to resolve the Tacna conflict. Instead, he is carrying out bilateral discussions with the company. This is in breach of the Peruvian Constitution.