Mexican Reversal of Union Strength in Energy Industry

SME calls for general strike and civil disobedience
Mexico News and Analysis
Produced by the Mexico Solidarity Network
February 8-14, 2010

On Saturday, the Electrical Workers Union (SME) in conjunction with striking mineworkers called for a general strike and civil disobedience in response to the Calderon administration's labor policies. SME is struggling to recover 44,000 jobs lost when Calderon closed the government-owned Central Light and Power (LFC) last October, while the mineworkers suffered a blow from the courts this week after striking at the Cananea mines for two and a half years. The situation at Cananea is particularly tense after a federal court supported a move by Grupo Mexico, owner of the mine, to end its relationship with the union. Mineworkers braced for army or police intervention at the mine entrance. Labor attorney Arturo Alcalde called the court decision, "brutal. We are witnessing a cleansing operation by the federal government in support of Grupo Mexico, but the most depressing thing is that the Federal Courts supported this monstrosity. I have been a labor attorney for 40 years and I've never seen such a grotesque decision from a judicial point of view. It's a gross maneuver that will do away with the union, the collective contract and the strike and, as if this wasn't enough, it will dismiss the workers with only minimal indemnification."

Meanwhile, the Federal Electrical Commission (CFE), another government-owned entity that took over LFC operations, began to install new electrical meters that would force consumers to pre-pay for electricity, much like pre-paid cell phone cards. The move is apparently an effort by the Calderon administration to head off an expected consumer boycott of electrical bills to protest rapidly rising charges and in support of SME.

In related news, the wall of a canal crumbled in the southwest part of Mexico City leaving thousands of homes drenched in sewer water. Officials blamed the break on excessive rainfall, but many experts noted the canal is emptied by massive pumps that have been sporadically without electricity since the closure of LFC. Flooding also forced officials to shut down the Mexico City-Puebla highway for nearly a week.