Mexican miners face state brutality over strike

The Mexican miners' union, Los Mineros, has put out a call for support for its 1200 members facing state brutality and violence aimed at breaking their two year strike.

The 1200 miners have been on strike since July 2007 at the Cananea mine over health and safety and other contract violations.

Grupo Mexico, the mining giant which operates Cananea, and the Mexican government have continuously tried to end the strike and crush the union. They have threatened and jailed union leaders, illegally frozen union bank accounts and failed to investigate or prosecute assassinations of union members.

On February 11, a federal court gave Grupo Mexico permission to fire the striking workers and terminate the labour agreement. The government has threatened to use armed force to gain control of Cananea.

The Los Mineros members at Cananea are resolved to continue occupying the mine until a fair labour agreement is reached.

The International Metalworkers' Federation, which the EPMU is a member of, has called on the Mexican government to:

• Release all union funds illegally seized by the government;
• Lift all charges still pending against Napoleón Gómez Urrutia and other members of the union.
• Prosecute in a court of law, immediately and transparently, all those responsible in the corruption of documents and facts; and
• Investigate Grupo México's involvement in the  murder of Reynaldo Hernández González and the detention and torture of 20 union members in Nacozari, Sonora.

You can send a message of protest to the Mexican government by clicking here. Be sure to mention you are a member of the EPMU, the union for miners in New Zealand.