Click here to download this update as a PDF.
Representatives from the USW joined with leaders from Los Mineros in Mexico City last week to call on the Mexican government to respect workers’ rights, demand Grupo Mexico end the ongoing strikes in Sombrerete, Zacatecas; Taxco, Guerrero; and Cananea, Sonora, Mexico and cause its subsidiary, ASARCO, to bargain in good faith with the USW in ongoing negotiations involving workers in AZ and TX.
The meeting coincided with the Southern Copper annual shareholder meeting in Mexico.
At a well-attended press event, leaders from both unions pledged their solidarity and support in the ongoing fight for labor reforms in Mexico that would allow workers to choose their union representatives. Leaders then called on the Mexican government to hold Grupo Mexico and CEO Germán Larrea accountable for their many abuses, including the Pasta de Conchos disaster, the Sonora River spill, abuses to Los Mineros, and ongoing contract negotiations with subsidiary ASARCO.
"[Grupo Mexico] does not respect the human rights of the miners, nor those of a labor and ecological nature," said Los Mineros leader José Ángel Hernández Puente.
In his opinion, previous governments protected Grupo Mexico from the consequences of its conduct, but now "we hope that the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador will put an end to these abuses."
