Mexican miners strike in support of union leader

The recent deaths of 65 miners in Mexico gave rise to a spate of allegations of corruption and complaints of exploitative working conditions in the mining industry, whose national union has gone on strike. The strike was declared on Mar. 1 by thousands of members of the 260,000-strong union of miners and steel workers is demanding that the government of President Vicente Fox recognize Napoleón Gómez, who is being investigated for corruption, as its legitimate leader. Government spokespersons said they had received a communiqué from the national union of miners and steel workers stating that Gómez was removed as leader of the union on Feb. 17. According to this version, the strike, which was deemed illegal by the labor ministry, was caused by internal problems in the union. In an open letter published by the press, the Mining Chamber demanded that the Fox administration come up with an immediate solution to the conflict. The chamber, which represents powerful companies, some of which are accused of exploiting their workers to expand profits, complained that the union was holding mining companies hostage over an internal union dispute. According to mining company estimates, the strike is causing some $17 million a day in losses. It is not clear how many of the union's workers have walked out in support of Gómez. Several companies reported that their employees were working as normal. But many mines had been shut down. "The deaths of the 65 miners opened up a can of worms involving the mining industry, which rarely appears in the media despite its economic power," said Gonzalo Rodríguez, a geologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. In the worst mining accident in Mexico in decades, 78 coal miners were trapped deep underground by gas explosions in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila on Feb. 19. Thirteen were found alive soon after rescue efforts began. The rest were never found. The victims earned between $160 and $310 a month working for Grupo México, a company that reported $5.19 billion in global sales in 2005. Although the exact cause of the accident in Coahuila is not yet known, former workers have blamed it on inadequate safety measures in the mine, an allegation that is rejected by Grupo México. The International Labor Organization considers mining, especially coal mining, one of the most dangerous of all jobs. An average of more than 15,000 miners die in accidents around the world every year. Mining industry output in Mexico grew more than seven percent a year in 2004 and 2005, the highest rates seen since 1995. According to the Mining Chamber, the industry, which accounts for 1.6 percent of gross domestic product and reports annual revenues of more than $5 billion, is enjoying a boom period thanks to high international prices. Gómez, who is backed by part of the union, had announced that the accident in Coahuila was caused by flaws in safety measures in the mine, for which he held the owners of the company responsible. Gómez, who in the past had close relations with the Fox administration and mining companies, is now accused by prosecutors and part of the union of using more than $50 million in union money for his own benefit. Like Mexico's stereotypical union leaders, who until 2000 had cozy ties with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) that ruled the country for 71 years, Gómez drives luxury cars, owns homes in exclusive neighborhoods, and has a web of influential political and business contacts. Gómez assumed leadership of the union in 2002 when his father, who led the union for 40 years, died. Most miners in Mexico are dues-paying members of the national union of miners and steel workers. "Corruption seems to be rife in the miners union, as in others, and that is confirmed by the numerous reports of corruption and by the lifestyle of its leader, who looks more like the owner of a company" than a worker, said Rodríguez.