27 June, 2008The miners' union is to formally denounce the Secretary of Labour, Javier Lozano, to the Public Prosecutor's Office for not granting legal recognition to Napoleón Gómez as General Secretary.
Mexico. The National Union of Miners and Metalworkers (SNTMMSRM) has denounced a new attack on trade union autonomy by the Secretary of Labour, who has not granted legal recognition to Napoleón Gómez as General Secretary of the union. The Secretary claims Gomez is a fugitive and therefore his rights are suspended.
Although the Secretary of Labour, Javier Lozano, has recognized the validity of all the agreements made by the union's Ordinary General Convention, "the exception is the re-election of Gómez Urrutia and his deputy, Mario García Ortiz, and this is a clear attack on trade union autonomy, and consequently, article 123 of the Constitution, Convention 87 of the International Labour Organisation and the Federal Labour Law," said a trade union statement.
Javier Lozano claims that denial of legal recognition to Napoleón Gómez is due to the fact that the leader is a fugitive and all his rights are therefore suspended. He also argued that the leader is responsible for mismanagement, that he is not a miner and that he cannot occupy the office if he is not in the country.
In response to Lozano's arguments, the union says that no administrative authority is authorised to interpret trade union statutes. "There is no firm judicial resolution that supports the Secretary's flippant comments. He should not prejudge the conduct of the trade union leader and should respect the principle of the presumption of innocence to which all Mexicans have a right," said the union in a statement.
The union said it did not accept the Secretary of Labour's description of Gómez Urrutia as a fugitive: "Napoleón Gómez Urrutia is not a fugitive; he was on a trade union trip abroad when he learned of the illegal arrest warrants issued against him." The union said that his trip to Canada was perfectly legitimate and that the Canadian authorities have granted him leave to stay on humanitarian grounds, which implicitly suggests they took note of the illegal persecution against him.
In response to this new threat to the union and trade union freedom, the union will formally denounce the Secretary of Labour at the Public Prosecutor's Office, on the grounds that his conduct represents an abuse of authority. The union will also present an appeal to what it considers the genuine competent authorities in order to obtain the recognition illegally denied to its leader.