Cananea, Taxco and Sombrerete miners complete four years on strike

MEXICO: Miners at Cananea, Sonora, Taxco, Guerrero and Sombrerete, Zacatecas, have now been on strike for four heroic years in defence of their labour and trade union rights. On July 30 and the following days, the miners will hold rallies to reaffirm their continued support for the strikes and the struggle of the Mexican Miners' Union.

The National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM), affiliated to the ICEM and the IMF says it is willing "to negotiate legal arrangements necessary to end the strikes, if a solution can be found that will respect the workers, recognize their collective agreements, definitively establish adequate health and safety conditions and respect the miners' union led by Napoleón Gómez Urrutia".

The three strikes continue because there has been no legal ruling to determine a definitive end to the strikes, explained the union. The union added that, throughout this period, the company has stubbornly refused to act peacefully and resolve the strikes in accordance with the law. During these years, the workers on strike have been persecuted and some judges have ruled that the strikes were invalid. However, the courts have ruled in the union's favour in response to union requests for legal protection. Workers have been subjected to repression in these four years, for example on June 6 2010 at the Cananea mine, which was occupied by 4,000 armed men who maintained a climate of terror against the miners.

In addition to the rallies that will take place on July 30 to commemorate four years on strike, the union will hold meetings to discuss how to strengthen the strikes and to call on the local communities to continue their support for the miners.

The miners and the local communities are deeply concerned that neither the government nor Grupo Mexico have taken any steps to resolve the disputes, recognise the collective agreements and respect the National Miners' Union.