7 March, 2016Three members of IndustriALL affiliate Mexican Miners and Metalworkers’ Union (SNTMMSRM), were physically assaulted when returning to work after winning a court case against the mining company Fresnillo PLC.
Eight years ago, the mining company Fresnillo PLC dismissed Javier Canales, Ramón Juárez and Noel Méndez. After taking legal action, the workers finally won their case and, in February 2016, the court ordered the company to reinstate them. The union’s lawyer, Óscar Alzaga, said the workers were hit, insulted and threatened by some of Fresnillo’s 100 employees when they returned to work after their reinstatement
Fresnillo is the world’s largest producer of primary silver and is owned by the business tycoon Alberto Bailleres González, who was awarded the Belisario Dominguez medal by the Mexican Senate in November 2015. It is interesting to note that, in principle, this medal is awarded to “Mexican men and women with a distinguished lifetime career who contributed most toward the welfare of the Nation and mankind”
Alzaga said that the assault at Fresnillo was organized by David Navarro and Gustavo Barrios, on the instructions of the leader of the pro-company Minero Metalúrgico Frente union, Carlos Pavón Campos, better known as “la Marrana” (The Pig), who follows the company’s orders.
Fresnillo PLC managers are behaving like gangsters, allowing company employees on company premises to harass, threaten and assault union members who oppose the dismantling of the collective agreement,
said Alzaga.
Fernando Lopes, IndustriALL assistant general secretary said:
This deplorable case again highlights the challenges facing our affiliate, the Miners, and all other independent unions. It also underlines the need to take urgent action to put an end to protecting contracts and reform labour relations.