Napoleón Gómez re-elected as leader of miners' union

MEXICO: The National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union Of Mexico (SNTMMSRM) re-elected Napoleón Gómez Urrutia as the union's General Secretary for another six year term at its 35th Ordinary General Assembly.

Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, who will be in office until 2014, participated in the closing session by video conference. He said that "the miners will advance, we shall be triumphant, we shall win this war because we have shown that we value loyalty and unity and because we are in the right." He said that the leaders of the union will promote a law that criminalizes negligence and irresponsibility in the field of safety in the mining and metalworking sectors. "Not one more death because of negligence", said Gómez Urrutia. "How can Grupo Mexico make millions of dollars but are not capable of investing one or two million dollars in ensuring safety and industrial hygiene in its mines?" he asked.

He also asked: "What does this government owe to a company that does not respect the law? And furthermore, why are they afraid that I will return to Mexico? Perhaps they have something on their conscience." He ended by saying "let us continue our struggle, fighting and resisting."

The union expressed its appreciation of "the very valuable support of international organisations such as the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF), the United Steelworkers Union of the United States and Canada, the United States AFL-CIO and the Labour MPs of the British Parliament."

Among other decisions, the assembly decided to resign from the Congreso del Trabajo union central, because the central has shown little interest and given little support during the mining disputes. The union explained that the "organisation does not observe its declared social objective of defending the working class, does not promote unity and solidarity and does not defend either trade union autonomy or the most basic rights and principles of the working class."