February 19, 2006, a gas explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine in
Mexico killed 65 Mexican miners. The Mexican government cut
short rescue efforts, sealing the mine before the bodies were even
recovered. Napoleon Gomez, democratically elected president of
Los Mineros, the Mexican miner’s union, immediately demanded a
thorough investigation into the explosion; accusing the government
of negligence and calling for the investigation and removal of their
Minister of Labor. Immediately following this, the Mexican
government under President Vicente Fox and Secretary of Labor,
Francisco Salazar, illegally removed Gomez from his position and
replaced him with union dissident Elias Morales.
Because of this illegal, hostile action 270,000 Mexican miners and
metal workers launched a three-day nation wide strike. The freedom,
liberty and rights of these Mexican workers have been violated and
are still under assault! The Steelworkers signed a strategic alliance
with Los Mineros last April, committing each organization to defend
the human rights of our respective members. We are taking action
and demanding that the Mexican government and Fox restore Gomez
as head of Los Mineros and to stop bullying independent labor unions
and respect the workers democratic right to choose their own unions
and leaders.
We are asking you to call the Mexican Embassy toll-free
at 1-800-311-1889 to tell them:
-Support worker’s rights
-Stop Oppressive tactics that hurt workers
-Restore Gomez and cease heavy-handing unions and workers