USW International President Leo W. Gerard congratulated Los Mineros and their leader Napoleón Gómez Urrutia on the union’s June 28 election victory at Teksid Hierro, a subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler in Coahuila, Mexico, following a four-year legal battle to hold the election.
Los Mineros defeated the incumbent union, the CTM, by a vote of 238-145.
“Workers at Teksid having to wait four years for an election is a complete condemnation of NAFTA’s failure to protect Mexican workers,” Gerard said. “A renegotiated NAFTA must guarantee the democratic right of workers to organize in all three countries.”
The struggle of the Teksid workers has been ongoing for more than four years, since the company promised to allow a vote but then blocked every effort for a free and fair election. On less than 24 hours’ notice, with national elections about to occur, a vote was finally allowed and workers overwhelmingly voted for Los Mineros over the company-selected union.
Workers at the company weathered the attacks on their rights with the support of Los Mineros and its international allies – the USW and Workers Uniting, the Italian metalworkers’ unions FIM and FIOM, the United Auto Workers and IndustriALL Global Union.