12 July, 2012IndustriALL Global Union has today called on the Canadian mining company Excellon Resources Inc. to stop threatening Mexican landowners and to sit down instead with their representatives to resolve a long-standing conflict over land use.
Earlier this week over seventy landowners, many of whom are employed in the mine, blockaded La Platosa mine in Durango after management backed out of long-awaited and hard-won negotiations aimed at resolving violations of a land rental agreement signed in 2008.
Excellon yesterday announced it was bringing criminal charges against the protesters and was pursuing them for damages. In addition, calls by the company for the government to put an end to the peaceful blockade have prompted fears for the safety of the protesters.
The landowners’ demands include a fair rental price and the building of a treatment plant to make water extracted from the mine suitable for agriculture in the drought-ridden region.
The company has lately come under increasing scrutiny as a result of its violations of labour standards and its failure to respect the rights of the community which owns the land. In May, a complaint was lodged on behalf of workers and landowners with the Canadian National Contact Point alleging violations of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Last week, an international observer team reported on a number of irregularities at the union elections at the mine.
IndustriALL has written to the Mexican authorities seeking assurances that no force will be used against landowners and their supporters.
The global union has also called on Excellon to cease its anti-union practices, to respect the right of workers to form unions of their own choosing without interference, and to reinstate union leaders dismissed in violation of international standards on freedom of association.
ACT NOW!
Please help support Mexican landowners demanding a fair deal from mining multinational by writing to Excellon and the Mexican government. Below are the contact details for sending your letters of protest.
Send letters to:
Lic. Felipe De Jesús Calderón Hinojosa
Presidente Constitucional de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Residencial Oficial de Los Pinos, Casa Miguel Alemán, Col. San Miguel Chapultepec, C. P. 11850, D. F.
Email: [email protected]
Cc to:
Lic. Jorge Herrera Caldera
Gobernador Constitucional Del Estado De Durango
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Dr. Alejandro Poiré Romero
Secretario de Gobernación
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Raúl Plascencia Villanueva
Presidente de la Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos
Marisela Morales Ibáñez
Fiscal General de la República
Correo-e.: [email protected]
Lic. Omeheira López Reyna
Unidad para la Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, SEGOB.
Jaime Fernández Saracho
Secretario de Gobierno de Durango
Palacio de Gobierno, Planta Alta, 5 de Febrero esq. Bruno Martínez, Zona Centro, C. P. 34000, Durango, Durango
www.cedh-durango.org.mx Email: [email protected]
Lic. Felipe de Jesús Martínez Rodarte
Presidente de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Estado de Durango
Email: [email protected]