Steelworkers stand up to Government of Mexico

Steelworkers stand up to Government of Mexico

By David Helwig
SooToday.com
Friday, March 17, 2006

Steelworkers demand that Vicente Fox's government restore democratically elected Mexican Mineworker Union leader Napoleon Gomez to office

PHILADELPHIA, March 17 - The United Steelworkers (USW) union is leading a march of union members and supporters today from the Liberty Bell to the Mexican Consulate in Philadelphia in a show of outrage over what the USW sees as the illegal removal of the Mexican Mineworker Union leader Napoleon Gomez by the Mexican government following Gomez's call for an investigation of the deaths of 65 mineworkers in a tragic accident.

"We are calling on the government of Vicente Fox to restore the democratically elected leader of The National Union of Mine and Metallurgical Workers of the Mexican Republic, the union known as 'Los Mineros' by its 250,000 members," USW Secretary-Treasurer Jim English told the crowd.

"This is a shameful act of naked aggression against the human rights of workers who make their living under the most dire circumstances," he said.

"When the government removed their leader, democracy was trampled. Napoleon Gomez is a formidable advocate for the rights of workers in Mexico. The employers fear Gomez and don't want any challenges to their endless supply of cheap labor in Mexico. We must challenge the Mexican government's role in suppressing workers upward mobility.
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http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/full_story.asp?StoryNumber=16341

How many Union activist have been shot by government goons in Mexico this year?

Philippines is standing at about 35 for 2005