22 September, 2010Prominent global network of legal experts calls on Mexican Supreme Court to respect mineworkers' union autonomy.
MEXICO: The International Commission for Labour Rights (ICLR) today announced their next step in the campaign for legal recognition of the leadership of the National Miners and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM), known as Los Mineros. The ICLR will file a brief to the Mexican Supreme Court in the case of Los Mineros, in which a ruling is pending over recognition of democratically elected General Secretary Napoleón Gómez Urrutia.
Legal recognition, or toma de nota, for Napoleón Gómez was first withdrawn by the Mexican Labour Secretariat in 2006. After the decision was overturned in court early 2008, Gómez was re-elected to serve another term by a May 2008 Los Mineros Convention. On 24 June 2008, the Mexican Labour Secretariat once again denied the 'toma de nota' to Gómez, on the grounds that his election was not in accordance with the constitution of the trade union.
It is unacceptable for the Mexican state to interfere in the internal workings of democratic independent trade unions such as Los Mineros, removing their right to autonomy. The Court's decision in this case will set a vitally important precedent on the freedom of Mexicans to freely exercise their right of association and to organise, outlined in ILO Convention 87.
The filing of the brief was formally announced at a press conference this morning in Mexico City, organised by Los Mineros. The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) fully support this latest development, as part of the overall campaign for labour rights in Mexico.
"We will maintain pressure on the Calderón government until our joint affiliate Los Mineros achieves justice" stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina.
The Amicus Curiae brief to be filed by the ICLR is supported by a strong network of human and labour rights organisations around the world, including the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy & World Human Rights (ELDH), the International Centre for Trade Union Rights (ICTUR), the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers (CALL-ACAMS), among many others.
View the brief and prior ICLR report here: http://www.laborcommission.org/reports.htm