21 February, 2014On the eighth anniversary of the disaster that killed 65 miners at Grupo Mexico’s Pasta de Conchos mine, IndustriALL Global Union calls on the federal government to end impunity and respect workers’ rights.
“Eight years is a long time to spend trying to right an injustice”, said Jorge Almeida, IndustriALL Global Union’s Regional Secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, who attended events held to remember the industrial homicide that occurred on 19 February 2006.
The National Miners’ Union (SNTMMSRM), affiliated to IndustriAll, is demanding recovery of the bodies in order to give them a decent burial, a thorough investigation to identify the cause of the accident, punishment for those responsible and payment of fair compensation to victims’ families.
The Regional Secretary reiterated IndustriALL’s solidarity with the mining town of Coahuila and with the union, led by its general secretary, Napoleon Gómez Urrutia, who is also a member of IndustriALL’s executive committee.
On 19 February, as part of the programme of events held to mark the anniversary, victims’ families held a mass in front of the offices of Grupo Mexico. Members representing different branches of the union and representatives of IndustriALL and the United Steelworkers of America later marched from the offices of Grupo Mexico to the Angel of Independence monument. Activities also included a meeting in front of the United States embassy to protest against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The union is also calling on the government to find a solution for the three strikes at mines in Cananea, Sombrete and Taxco, and to take the steps necessary to make it possible for Napoleón Gómez Urrutia to return to the country.
The Pasta de Conchos disaster anniversary took place just a week after another accident at a Grupo Mexico mine, this time at San Luis de Potosí, where five miners died because of the company’s negligence and failure to respect trade union rights.