Steel workers in Mexico clash with police

Five hundred striking steel workers who have occupied the SICARTSA steel mill in Michoacan, Mexico repelled 800 armed policemen dressed in riot gear who tried to overtake the plant on Apr. 26. On Apr. 20 two workers, José Luis Castillo Zúñiga and Héctor Alvarez Gómez, were killed when police entered the plant through a back door at daybreak and began firing tear gas and live ammunition at surprised workers. Some 70 workers were injured, mostly by gunshots. Thirteen workers were arrested. As news of the police attack got around, union workers from nearby MITTAL Steel arrived and fought back police with sticks. Police were forced to leave through the same door from which they entered. Later, a videotape surfaced that showed Police Ministry Director Jaime Liera Alvare giving orders to fire at protesters' "feet." Liera Alvare resigned the next day. Workers went on strike at the plant on Apr. 2 to protest the company's support of a government move to remove Napoleon Gomez as leader of the union. Gomez was removed by government fiat in February and accused of embezzlement. On Feb. 17, the government recognized Elias Morales as leader of the union in place of Gomez, sparking a conflict between Vicente's Fox's government and the 250,000-member union. Morales is a known supporter of the SICARTSA mill. "We ask the government to take action so our plant doesn't continue to be held hostage," said Ignacio Trevina, a spokesman for the company. "This is an internal problem at the union. It's out of the company's hands." Workers have also been on strike at Grupo Mexico copper and zinc mines since Mar. 24. Former Labor Secretary Carlos Abascal, who is Mexico's current Interior Secretary, was tapped by President Fox to spearhead negotiations between mill owners and the union. The union has demanded the resignation of current Labor Secretary Francisco Xavier Salazar and the impeachment of Fox. Abascal drew attention as Labor Secretary when he claimed that women who work outside the home threatened femininity. On Apr. 20, the Labor Secretariat's arbitration board ruled the strike illegal, precipitating police action that same day. The 850,000-member union United Steelworkers of America and the Mexican federation blamed Fox's government for the Apr. 20 deaths. "The Fox administration's murderous actions have marked it as one of the most heinous in all of Latin America," United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard said. Mexico is Latin America's second-biggest steel producer. In conjunction with the labor demonstrations for the steel workers, protesters used the opportunities to express their anger at corporations and private companies they say enslave Mexican workers for the sake of profit. One particular demonstration took place on Apr. 29. Protesters waved banners against the so-called "neoliberal" free market economic policies they blame for unchecked corporate-sponsored globalization, and also carried signs urging the US Congress to come up with "a fair deal for the undocumented workers in the United States."