Mexico

  • National Work Stoppage in Mexico Demands Reversal on Power Co. Takeover
    Dan La Botz
    Nov 13 2009 - 4:36pm

    Tens of thousands of Mexican workers joined a national work stoppage to restore the Electrical Workers union, but despite large and militant protests, it's unlikely the government will be moved.

  • Mexican Electrical Workers Hold Out Against Government Raid
    Labor Notes staff
    Nov 20 2009 - 12:01am

    “The Mexican Government has declared war on the union movement,” according to Margarita de la Cruz, a leader of the Mexican Electrical Workers. Last month, 500 federal police seized 100 power facilities around Mexico City in a move to fire workers, privatize the industry, and outlaw the union that represented 43,000 active and 22,000 retired workers.

  • Mexican Electrical Union Calls for National Strike
    Dan La Botz
    Oct 24 2009 - 1:12am

    Leaders of the besieged Mexican Electrical Workers Union (SME) are calling on other unions throughout Mexico to mount a national strike to force the government to revoke its liquidation of the Light and Power Company. The union called for a strike after walking out of negotiations with the government, talks leaders characterized as a “farce.”

  • Mexican Government Seizes Power Plants, Liquidates Dissident Union
    Dan La Botz
    Oct 13 2009 - 5:24pm

    Over the weekend Federal Police seized the plants of the Central Light and Power Company of Mexico, which provides electricity to Mexico City and several states in central Mexico.

  • Mexican Government Prepares to Seize Power Stations and Break Electrical Workers Union
    Dan LaBotz
    Sep 29 2009 - 4:56pm

    The Mexican Preventive Police are preparing to occupy the facilities of the Central Light and Power Company in Mexico City in an attempt to break the militant Mexican Electrical Workers Union.

  • Workers Take Action as Mexico Is Sucked Into Economic Crisis

    Author(s):
    Dan La Botz

    Excerpt:
    With the two economies firmly interlocked, the United States’ biggest export to Mexico nowadays is economic meltdown. Mexico’s largest sources of revenue are oil sales, factory exports, remittances, and tourism. All are hit hard by the crisis north of the border. . . .

    Available Online:
    Yes

  • New Death Threat to Mexican Mine Leader

    Body:
    The Mexican miners union continues to strike at the Cananea mine for safe working conditions and the reinstatement of their leader, who faces fresh criminal charges and a new death threat.

    The Mexican government tried to oust the miners’ president, Napoleon Gomez Urrutia, and he was forced to flee the country after facing death threats and corruption charges. Gomez said they were trumped up; false charges are often leveled against union activists in Mexico.

    Gomez won re-election and continues to lead his union in exile from Vancouver, British Columbia. The Mexican government, however, refuses to recognize him as the union’s head.

    Expiration Date:
    Wed, 12/31/2008 - 10:59pm

  • Mexican Workers Resist Union Corruption

    Body:
    Workers at the Corning Science de Mexico maquiladora in Reynosa, just across the border at Texas’s southern tip, are struggling against both their employer and their union for real representation in the workplace.

    The workers, who make scientific equipment for laboratories, charge that the company and the union work in concert to violate their rights and hold down working conditions.

    A group of dissidents, calling themselves the Commission of the Workers of Corning Science Factory (CTEC), have pulled away from the company union. They report abuse at the plant and inaction on the part of the official union.

    Expiration Date:
    Sun, 08/31/2008 - 10:59pm

  • Copper Miners Get Help from Women in Long Strike in Mexico

    Author(s):
    Dan La Botz

    Excerpt:
    The miners of Local 65 of the Mexican Mine and Metal Workers Union at Cananea marked their ninth month of striking against Grupo Mexico, the country’s largest mining corporation and third-largest copper producer in the world. . . .

    Available Online:
    Yes

  • Help Mexico Teach North Carolina About Unions

    Body:
    North Carolina is under new scrutiny for its poor labor standards, this time from a foreign government. Under a side accord in NAFTA called the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation, the Mexican government is challenging the state to implement collective bargaining rights for public sector workers. It has also requested a progress report on a recent inquiry by the International Labor Organization (ILO) into the state’s prohibition against bargaining.

    Earlier this year, the ILO ruled that North Carolina’s failure to comply with “freedom of association principles...has resulted in grievous working conditions for many public sector workers.” It called on the U.S. to ratify and adhere to the ILO’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, which includes collective bargaining.

    Expiration Date:
    Mon, 12/31/2007 - 11:59pm