24 January, 2013On 26 January the glass workers union of San Luís Potosí (SUTEIVP) will conduct a manifestation at the plant gates of the Corona beer bottling plant that sacked them for trade union activities five years ago.
The five year anniversary of the IndustriALL Global Union-affiliated SUTEIVP’s struggle for reinstatement and trade union recognition will be supported by other local trade unions in the San Luís Potosí area, and will receive a message of support from IndustriALL General Secretary Jyrki Raina.
The story of your brave struggle is well known internationally. We are proud to share our global IndustriALL family with you, and to know that you are still fighting on the fifth anniversary of your illegal sacking by the company.
Since their dismissal and refusal of a management payoff 33 workers continue struggling for their jobs back. They have been blacklisted by the company and complicit labour authorities, so that neither they nor their families can find work in the region. The anti-union complicity of the authorities has also helped to drag out the legal process with countless appeals, however the process is now in the resolution phase so there is reason to hope for a fair conclusion soon.
The company Industria Vidriera del Potosí is a subsidiary of the global beer company Grupo Modelo. It is one of the four bottle manufacturers who produce for the famous Mexican beer Corona, and is owned by Mexico’s richest woman, María Asunción Aramburuzavala. Grupo Modelo is in the process of being bought by global market leader AB InBev, producer of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Becks beers.
The glass workers’ demands will be an important part of the upcoming Global Days of Action on 18-24 February, which this week received unanimous support from the Council of Global Unions (CGU). The CGU members meeting on 21-22 January all committed to campaign jointly during the Days of Action.
The Global Trade Union Federations and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) will mobilize affiliates around the world to call on the president for intervention against protection contracts, for justice at Pasta de Conchos and for reversal of the recent regressive labour reforms.
Each democratic union in Mexico will use the week to push their specific demands for justice in their own conflicts, as well as march united for core labour rights throughout the country. The Mexican miners’ union Los Mineros will push the common demands but prioritize the call for reinstatement of ten hunger strikers at the Finnish-based autoparts multinational PKC in Ciudad Acuña. The hunger strikers were members of the local Los Mineros executive committee who were all dismissed as the company sacked 122 workers connected to the union who are battling to organize the plant and replace the corporate yellow union there.