5 December, 2012IndustriALL Global Union challenges claims by the Canadian mining company Excellon that all is well at its operations in Durango in Mexico.
Excellon, which has come under intense pressure over its labour rights abuses and its refusal to deal in good faith with small landowners, has publically denied any wrongdoing.
Says IndustriALL General Secretary Jyrki Raina in a letter to the company: “If Excellon can say that it initially enjoyed a good relationship with the landowners, then its definition of a ‘good’ relationship must be one in which it can cheat small landowners out of a fair deal and thus enjoy unrestricted use of the land at rock-bottom prices.”
IndustriALL also dismissed as ‘lies’ the company’s claim that the eviction of a protest camp at the entrance to the mine was not violent.
Finally, IndustriALL rejected the company’s assertion that it supports the right for freedom of association. “How can Excellon claim to be respecting the right to organize when in reality it has broken every rule in the book?,” says Raina. “Excellon has denied workers the right to join organizations of their own choosing, has interfered in trade union affairs, has discriminated against workers on the grounds of union membership and has denied workers the right to bargain collectively."
“Excellon must stop trying to divert the attention from the key issues at hand, and must instead engage in good faith dialogue with the landowners to resolve the violations of the 2008 land use agreement and with Los Mineros to resolve the outstanding labour issues,” concludes Raina in his letter.
The letter from Excellon as well as the text of Jyrki Raina’s letter in reponse is available on related links.