21 August, 2009Workers at ArcelorMittal are on strike after negotiations on adjustments to the collective agreement ended in deadlock. Steelworkers in the United States and Canada have offered their support for the action taken by the miners' union.
MEXICO: On August 8, after negotiations between the miners' union and the company on adjustments to their collective agreement ended in deadlock, Section 271 of the National Miners' Union in the industrial port of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán decided to go on strike.
The workforce comprises 3,500 union members, 1,500 contract workers and more than 2,000 supervisory staff and suppliers, totalling approximately 7,000 workers, all of whom will benefit from any agreement reached, said the union.
Negotiations on adjustments to the collective agreement have been taking place for more than two months and were extended for a further week at the company's request. Negotiations on the union side are being coordinated by the National Executive Committee, led by Napoleón Gómez Urrutia.
The United Steelworkers (USW) of the United States and Canada, a leading industrial union in both these countries, and which together have more than 14,000 members working for ArcelorMittal, sent the Mexican Miners' Union at Lázaro Cárdenas a letter of support and solidarity in which they say: "we believe that the world's largest steelmaker is in a position to provide its workers with a decent standard of living and decent working conditions. We also believe that the use of non-unionised contract workers undermines the conditions previously negotiated by our unions. We support you in your struggle and we are ready to provide any assistance that we are able to give you."
The miners' union said it remains ready to continue negotiating "with the aim of normalising the situation as soon as possible and resuming work at ArcelorMittal installations so that the conflict does not continue and the demands of the workers at the company are met."