8 July, 2009Trade union and parliamentary leaders visit Mexico to support the Mexican miner workers' union.
MEXICO/GLOBAL: Trade union and parliamentary leaders from 13 countries are visiting Mexico this week to support the National Union of Mine and Metal Workers (SNTMMSRM). The delegation will be calling on the Government of Mexico to cease assisting the multinational mining company Grupo Mexico in its campaign to destroy the SNTMMSRM, release all union accounts illegally seized by the government, and prosecute in a court of law all those responsible for crimes committed against SNTMMSRM members.
"We are concerned that the Calderón government, which claims to be fighting for rule of law, practices impunity when it comes to the rights of the mineworkers," said IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina.
The Mexican government has twice removed the leader of the union, Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, from office. The Committee on Freedom of Association of the International Labor Organization (ILO), ruling in a complaint brought by the IMF, found that "the labour authorities engaged in conduct that is incompatible with Article 3 of Convention No. 87, which establishes the right of workers to elect their representatives in full freedom."
In Mexico City, the delegation will meet with Congressional and union leaders and will visit Mineworkers' official Juan Linares Montufar who has been jailed by the government. The delegation will attend the Mineworkers' 75th anniversary in Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán and will visit the Pasta de Conchos mine where 65 workers were killed in an explosion in 2006.
The delegation is being jointly organized by the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), the United Steelworkers (USW) and the SNTMMSRM.
The delegation is headed by Jack Layton, leader of Canada's New Democratic Party (NDP) and includes parliamentarians from Australia and Peru. The delegation includes trade union leaders from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Norway, Peru, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and the United States.