Support Miners in Three Countries

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.labornotes.org/2010/02/support-miners

Labor Notes Staff | February 26, 2010

Copper miners occupying pits in northern Mexico are bracing for an invasion by federal troops after refusing to give up their two-and-a-half year strike. In Southern California, borate miners are locked out, insisting that the good union jobs don't become “junk jobs.” And in Ontario, nickel miners are in the same fight, holding strong after six months on pickets. Show your solidarity today.
Class Warfare in Cananea

Miners in northern Mexico are bracing for an invasion by federal troops. Since striking and occupying their mines in 2007 over serious health dangers at work, the copper miners have been a sore spot for a federal government itching to crush dissent in the labor movement.


Mining multinational Rio Tinto locked out nearly 600 workers on January 31 from a California borate mine after workers refused contract changes that would destroy full-time jobs, blow up seniority, and undermine safety by putting workers in competition with each other. Photo: ILWU.


Grupo Mexico, which owns the Cananea mine, saw a 2006 explosion at another mine bury 27 workers alive—termed “industrial homicide” by the union—after routinely disregarding workers’ safety concerns. The company was poised to continue its deadly negligence in Cananea, ignoring calls for safety improvements from workers and even the Mexican Department of Labor. Miners struck, and 700 state forces invaded the mines in 2008 and shot down three unarmed workers.

Emboldened by a recent court ruling favorable to the company, in which the union was not allowed to present evidence, Grupo Mexico is asking that federal troops wrench the mines away from the workers. “These miners are tough, they believe in their union, and they’re going to support their rights,” says Jerry Fernandez, international relations director of the Steelworkers.

Military intervention could mean a bloodbath in the mines of northern Mexico, further destabilizing a region torn asunder by drug wars and official corruption. The Steelworkers and other allies are asking for urgent appeals to Santiago Canton, executive secretary of the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights, urging him to ask the Mexican government not to use force against the Cananea miners, lest they become the mourned Cananea martyrs. Email Dr. Santiago Canton.
Inco Vale Miners Soldier On in Ontario

Miners in northern Ontario are entering the seventh month of their strike to protect pensions, bonuses, job security, and seniority rights. The Steelworkers represent 3,500 strikers at Vale Inco copper and nickel mines in Sudbury and Voisey’s Bay. They’ve partnered with their international union to globalize the fight against the transnational corporation, protesting at docks globally where scab ore is offloaded.

FULL story at link.