31 May, 2010
The ICEM is coordinating with other Global Union Federations, the International Metalworkers’ Federation, and UNI, as well as with North American affiliates Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada and the United Steelworkers (USW), and the Solidarity Centre in Mexico, to conduct a teach-in event in Toronto, aimed at raising solidarity with and understanding of the struggle by democratic trade unions in Mexico. The event will be held on 20 June, as part of the Peoples’ Forum events around the G8 and G20 summits. It is an open event. View the agenda here.
Entitled the “Conference on Building Solidarity with the Democratic Labour Movement in Mexico,” the forum is targeted at making an impact in both Mexico and Canada, following Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s recent visit to the Canadian Parliament, and the continued anti-union strategy of the Mexican government.
The ICEM Executive Committee last week issued a resolution against mining giant Grupo México and the Calderón government following unprovoked violence by federal police against workers in the city of Lázaro Cárdenas in the Michoacán region. Read the complete resolution here.
This latest attack is an attack on the autonomy of the National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM), also known as Los Mineros. The violence follows the arrest of Mario García Ortíz, Los Mineros’ special delegate for the State of Michoacán, also the Alternative General Secretary of the union and President of the recent Convention of the union. When a delegation of Section 271 went to the police station to ask the reason for the arrest, they found Ortíz in the process of being released. Without provocation, the police ordered the mineworkers to lie on the street, and then brutally beat the union members.
Mario Ortíz was seriously injured in the attack and hospitalised. Following the attack, the Section 271 members were detained by police, only being released when their 3,000 fellow Section 271 members stopped work at the ArcelorMittal steel facility in protest.
The ICEM’s governing body last week demanded that the Calderón government respect the democratic decision of the recent Los Mineros Congress, which re-elected Napoleón Gómez as General Secretary. Gómez is forced to lead the union from exile in Canada, as the Mexican government and Grupo México continue sham legal processes against him. The treatment of Los Mineros official Juan Linares acts as stark reminder of what Napoleón Gómez risks facing if he returns to his country. Juan Linares was arrested in September 2008 at an airport on his return from Canada, where he was a guest at a Canadian labour conference.
“ICEM affiliates in Canada and the US have put fourth extraordinary efforts assisting our sisters and brothers in Mexico to stand up against a repressive government and some ruthless employers,” stated Joe Drexler, ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs and Coordinator for the ICEM North American Region.
(Photo: International Metalworkers Federation)
Mexican union leaders from different sectors will share experiences of repression and their fight for decent work, under the four following agenda items: Legal & Political Framework of the Labour Movement Crisis; The Mexican Labour Movement in Crisis; Organizing Strategies in Response to the Crisis; Solidarity Strategies in Response to the Crisis.
The event will take place at 89 Chestnut St., Chestnut Residence Hotel, University of Toronto, 2nd floor. Registration is at 08h30am. For more information, write to [email protected].
There was positive news at Johnson Controls in the Mexican state of Puebla this weekend, when a long-fought struggle came to fruition. Johnson Controls officially recognizing the SNTMMSRM as the representative trade union of its employees, ending its relationship with a yellow union.
Management was brought to the table just three days after a work stoppage, as the union timed a strike to stop production just before shipments to key customers including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Chrysler, Nissan, and Volkswagen. Johnson Controls was at risk of large fines if supplier contracts were not met. The settlement also sees 80 contract and agency workers given full employment by the American-based company. The US Solidarity Centre in Mexico reports that international pressure was vitally important in reaching this settlement, serving as a clear indication of the need to continue the overall campaign.