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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MEXICO 000859 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL/AWH AND ILCSR, WHA/MEX AND PPC, USDOL FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON PHUM PINR MX
SUBJECT: DISSIDENTS IN SOCIAL SECURITY WORKERS, UNION RENEW 
ATTEMPTS TO OVERTURN 2006 LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  In October 2006, the National Union of Social 
Security Workers (SNTSS) held a national convention to elect 
new union leadership.  Despite obvious voting irregularities 
and ultimately violence, the election results were 
nevertheless confirmed by the administration of Mexico,s 
then outgoing President.  The losing side in these elections 
never accepted their results and has now turned to the new 
government of President Felipe Calderon to press their case. 
With some 350,000 active members and another 150,000 retirees 
who still retain substantial union rights, the SNTSS is the 
largest single public service union in Mexico.  Moreover, the 
SNTSS is one of Mexico,s more politically active unions, 
often at the forefront of anti-government protests.  The 
SNTSS leadership sided with losing PRD party candidate Lopez 
Obrador in Mexico,s July 2006 presidential elections but is 
now flirting with the PRI; Mexico,s other main opposition 
party.  For their part, the dissents hope to enlist the aid 
of the ruling Nation Action Party (PAN) in the leadership 
struggle.  Given the SNTSS, size, the outcome of the union 
leadership dispute could well provide one of Mexico,s 
principal political parties with a substantial number of 
politically active foot soldiers.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
A FLAWED UNION ELECTION 
----------------------- 
 
¶2.  In October 2006, the National Union of Social Security 
Workers (SNTSS) held a national convention to elect new union 
leadership.  At stake were the offices of the union leader, 
its Secretary General and the seats of its National Executive 
Committee (CEN). At the start of the electoral process five 
potential candidates to become Secretary General but when the 
balloting finally took place only two of them were actually 
allowed to compete.  Throughout the election the five 
contenders had effectively formed into two groups.  The 
first, with two candidates was closely associated with 
outgoing Secretary General Roberto Vega Galina.  The other 
three contenders, although they campaigned separately, had 
nevertheless formed an alliance called the &Democratic 
Coalition8 (DC). 
 
¶3.  According to the DC, the two candidates associated with 
outgoing Secretary General, Roberto Vega Galina were hand 
picked by him to take over the union leadership.  These two 
contenders, Valdemar Gutierrez Fragoso and Joaquin Castillo, 
both went through the steps of a campaign but the DC alleged 
that this was only done so Vega Galina could claim the winner 
had been democratically elected.  The DC claimed that there 
was never any doubt that the winner of what they described as 
a rigged election would be Valdemar Gutierrez Fragoso; 
Vega,s real choice for successor.  The lopsided results of 
the election give some credence to the DC,s claim.  Of the 
850 convention delegates ultimately authorized to cast 
ballots, 800 of them voted for Valdemar Gutierrez while only 
50 voted for Joaquin Castillo. 
 
 
PROBLEMS BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE ELECTIONS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶4.  Union leadership elections in Mexico are often hard 
fought and the election for Secretary General of the SNTSS 
was no exception.  Because of concerns of a rigged election, 
the leaders of the Democratic Coalition attempted to prevent 
the balloting from ever taking place by filing charges with 
then Mexican President Vicente Fox,s Labor Secretariat 
(STPS) against Vega for misappropriation of union funds.  Had 
the charges stuck, Vega Galina would have been removed from 
his post as Secretary General and thus prevented from calling 
for a national convention.  By most accounts the Labor 
Secretariat at first publicly agreed to press charges against 
 
SIPDIS 
Vega Galina and then, inexplicably, changed its mind claiming 
that Mexico,s Federal Labor Law prevented it from taking 
action to remove a recognized union leader from office unless 
that action had first been approved by the union,s National 
Executive Committee. 
 
¶5.  During the election itself, which took place on October 
12 in the state of Michoacan, violence and balloting 
irregularities seems to rule the day.  On the day of the 
election the organizers of the national convention initially 
refused to give credential to any member of the DC or its 
supporters.  Without a credential, a union delegate would not 
be admitted to the convention floor and thus unable to vote. 
Ultimately the convention organizers agreed to give 
credentials to the DC candidates themselves but not to the 
 
MEXICO 00000859  002 OF 003 
 
 
group,s supporters.  When this decision was announced 
rioting broke out and the dissidents and their supporters 
tried to force their way into convention.  The rioting was 
only put down when Michoacan state police were called in and 
eventually disbursed the rioters with tear gas. 
 
¶6.  While the rioting was going on, Vega Galina and Valdemar 
Gutierrez conducted what the media called a &Fast Track8 
ballot to quickly conclude the election.  A video tape made 
by one of the delegates recorded a call for an election by 
show of hands, the formal nomination of the two eligible 
candidates and a counting of the votes.  The tape, which was 
anonymously released to the media and also given to the STPS, 
ran for 25 seconds. During that time the convention 
organizers declared Valdemar Gutierrez the winner after 
claiming to have faithfully counted the votes of all 850 
authorized delegates. 
 
¶7.  After the rioting and the &Fast Track8 balloting, the 
Democratic Coalition filed fraud charges with the then Fox 
administration STPS. The STPS acknowledged that the vote for 
the new SNTSS Secretary General was &fast8 but averred that 
that by itself did not necessarily invalidate the election. 
It then declared that it would carefully study all 
information provided by both the winners and losers to decide 
on the fairness of the election.  Ultimately, on the evening 
of October 31, 2006, the STPS validated the election of 
Valdemar Gutierrez and shortly thereafter gave him a &toma 
de nota8, official written GOM recognition of his election 
as SNTSS Secretary General. 
 
¶8.  The DC immediately protested the STPS decision and 
promptly filed an injunction with the appropriate judicial 
arbitration authorities to have the election results 
overturned. No real action on the injunction was taken for 
the reminder of the Fox administration, which left office on 
December 1, 2006.  A DC member told Labor Counselor that the 
group believes the Fox administration was so concerned with 
such problems as Mexico,s disputed presidential election, 
the ongoing civil unrest (that began as a labor dispute) in 
Oaxaca and the problems arising from a long running dispute 
in the national miners, union that it simply was not 
prepared to taken on another labor related fight so near to 
the end of its term of office. 
 
 
A NEW GAME WITH A NEW REFEREE 
----------------------------- 
 
¶9.  Despite repeated protests the DC was unable to get the 
Fox administration to reconsider its decision to officially 
recognize Valdemar Gutierrez,s victory. It therefore decided 
to bide its time and has now begun to press its case with the 
new administration of President Felipe Calderon.  For the 
most part the DC is pushing forward with its formal legal 
charges but it has also launched an extensive public 
relations campaign against Gutierrez.  It has also quietly 
hinted that an SNTSS headed by the DC would be much more 
receptive to the ideas of President Calderon,s ruling 
National Action Party (PAN).  Thus far there is no indication 
that the Calderon government is taking particular note of the 
SNTSS leadership dispute.  However, STPS officials in the 
Calderon government have commented, in general terms, to 
Labor Counselor, their awareness of many errors made by the 
previous administration, especially in the area of resolving 
union leadership disputes. These same officials affirmed the 
new government,s determination to correct these errors. 
 
 
THERE IS A LOT ON THE TABLE WITH THE SNTSS 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶10.  Although the Calderon government has not gone out of its 
way to step into the SNTSS leadership dispute, many observers 
of the labor scene in Mexico have pointed out that this 
particular union is too important to ignore for long.  The 
SNTSS has some 350,000 active members and another 150,000 
retirees who still retain substantial union rights. 
Moreover, the SNTSS is the largest single public service 
union in Mexico (as opposed to other public service unions 
who mainly function as part of a labor federation).  The 
SNTSS is also one of Mexico,s more politically active 
unions, often at the forefront of anti-government protests. 
Its contract with the Mexican Social Security Institute 
(which administers the country,s national health service and 
pension system) costs the GOM,s current federal budget 
approximately 4.5 billion pesos (USD 412.8 million) of which 
 
MEXICO 00000859  003 OF 003 
 
 
some 602 million peso (USD 55.3 million) are specifically 
earmarked for union expenses. 
 
¶11.  Like most public service unions in Mexico the SNTSS had 
traditionally been closely associated with the country,s 
former ruling party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party 
(PRI).  However, during the years of the Fox administration 
the SNTSS leadership aligned itself with the Party of the 
Democratic Revolution (PRD) and played a major role in the 
failed 2006 candidacy of that party,s presidential nominee, 
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Now however, the SNTSS is 
carefully weighting its options and is at present considering 
a return to the PRI.  Valdemar Gutierrez has openly stated 
his preference for the PRI, but only on condition that that 
party offered SNTSS members slots as party candidates in 
Mexico,s 2009 mid-term elections. It is not yet clear to 
what extent the PRI is prepared to negotiate with the SNTSS 
over future candidacies. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶12. According to many recent media reports, the union is also 
facing serious financial difficulties in addition to the 
SNTSS, leadership troubles.  The union,s outgoing Secretary 
General left his successor a SNTSS debt of roughly 35.5 
million pesos (roughly USD 3.3 million) This could mean that 
the support of the SNTSS could be available to the highest 
bidder.  Given the SNTSS, size, and the reports of its 
weakened financial situation, the outcome of the union 
leadership dispute could well provide one of Mexico,s 
principal political parties with a substantial number of 
politically active foot soldiers.  Moreover, the willingness 
of the SNTSS leadership to keep its members at their jobs in 
the national health care system or on the streets engaging in 
anti-government protests, could be a serious plus or a 
significant minus to the current government,s plans to 
promote Mexico as country whose labor climate facilitates job 
creation and foreign investment. 
 
 
 
 
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