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Police shot and killed two workers when authorities launched an assault to expel striking workers occupying the SICARTSA steel mill in Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan, Mexico on April 20. More than 40 other workers were wounded, most by gunshots.

Reports from the scene suggest that others may also have been killed or may remain in critical condition. Workers and townspeople quickly retook the plant, but were then besieged by the police. Parts of the plant have been taken over by the Mexican Army and Navy.

Condemning the government's attack on the strikers, a new coalition of Mexican unions called the National Front for Union Unity and Autonomy (FNUAS) has demanded: the resignation of Mexican Secretary of Labor Francisco Xavier Salazar; the impeachment of President Vicente Fox Quezada; punishment of those involved in the murders; and recognition of the elected leader of the mine workers union, Napoleon Gomez Urrutia.

This latest stand-off was the culmination of a months-long struggle between President Vicente Fox and the Mexican Miners' and Metal Workers Union (SNTMMRM). The steel workers had struck April 2, demanding the reinstatement of their union's top official, Gomez Urrutia, who had been removed from office by the government and replaced by a new leader close to Mexican mining companies.

The Frente Autentico del Trabajo (FAT), an independent Mexican union federation, has requested that letters of protest be sent to the Mexican president and secretary of labor. However, protest emails to these officials have begun bouncing back to their senders. So, please send your letters of protest to the FAT at FAT@laneta.apc.org. They will pass your emails on to government offices, one way or another.

Expiration Date:
Fri, 06/30/2006 - 6:00pm