VZCZCXRO6161
RR RUEHCD RUEHGA RUEHGD RUEHHA RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHMT RUEHNG RUEHNL
RUEHQU RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM RUEHVC
DE RUEHME #2195/01 2052311
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 242311Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0283
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 1650
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 2641
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7610
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MEXICO 002195 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL/AWH AND ILCSR, WHA/MEX, USDOL FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON PGOV ENGR PINR PHUM MX
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY WITH MEXICO'S NATIONAL 
MINERS UNION 
 
REF: (A) MEXICO 1191 (B) 07 MEXICO 1925 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: On July 8, an international delegation of 
legislators and union officials arrived in Mexico for a 
five-day visit to review the circumstances surrounding the 
long running dispute between Mexico's National Miners Union 
(SNTMMSRM), the Mexican mining industry and the GOM.  The 
delegation consisted of legislators from Canada, Australia 
and Peru as well as union officials from 13 countries; 
among them members of the United Steelworkers Union (USW) 
and the AFL-CIO.  The delegation met with the GOM's Labor 
Secretary, Mexico City's Mayor, various Mexican Congressmen 
and local labor activists.  They also all called on their 
respective embassies.  The US union officials met with 
post's A/DCM on July 9.  The main points raised by the US 
union officials during this meeting were: a request that 
the embassy keep Washington informed of the SNTMMSRM 
situation, an expression of concern that there is no rule 
of law in Mexico, especially with respect to labor rights; 
a lament that the SNTMMSRM's leader was being persecuted 
because he pushed for better wages for the workers; an 
assertion that the miners' union situation is proof that 
the NAALC (NAFTA side agreement) does not work; a complaint 
that the promise made that NAFTA would raise wages and 
living standards in Mexico was false and that this was 
having a negative impact on US wages; and a charge that 
mining conditions in Mexico are not safe.  Finally the US 
union officials asked if the rule of law in Mexico was not 
being respected on something as basic as labor rights how 
could the USG expect anyone to take seriously the rule of 
law components of the Merida Initiative.  A/DCM stressed 
how importantly the USG views safety issue and promised to 
relay the union officials concerns to Washington.  He 
underscored the importance of institution building 
under the Merida Initiative and other programs. END SUMMARY. 
 
 
PROBLEMS WITH THE MINERS 
 
 
¶2. An international delegation of legislators and union 
officials arrived in Mexico on July 8, to review the long 
running dispute between Mexico's National Miners Union 
(SNTMMSRM), the GOM and the Mexican mining industry. Some 
of the issues of concern to the delegation included 
settling a two-year old strike at one of Mexico's largest 
copper mines, guaranteeing the recovery of the remains of 
miners killed in the February 2006 Pasta de Conchas coal 
mine disaster in the northern border state of Coahuila, 
freeing imprisoned labor leaders, and allowing Mexican mine 
workers' union leader Napoleon Gomez Urrutia to return 
unmolested from self-imposed Canadian exile.  Gomez fled to 
Canada following a 
struggle that originally began in 2002 between him and 
another union official, Elias Morales Hernandez, to become 
SNTMMSRM Secretary General.  Although Gomez was ultimately 
declared the winner, in 2006 the then administration of 
President Vicente Fox used an allegation that he embezzled 
USD 55 million in union trust funds to oust him from his 
union leadership position.  Initially Gomez provided very 
little information to account for the alleged missing funds 
which were last seen in the local branch of a Canadian 
bank.  His supporters now claim a Gomez has since provided a 
complete accounting for the missing funds by offering to make 
public various banking and financial documents which fully 
address the allegations made against him. 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR THE SNTMMSRM 
 
 
¶3. Gomez' removal as union leader generated considerable 
controversy in labor circles both within Mexico and abroad. 
Most, although certainly not all, of the union's rank and 
file continued to support Gomez.  International, the United 
Steelworkers Union (USW) in the US and Canada strongly 
supported Gomez. The USW even filed a submission 
(complaint) on the SNTMMSRM's behalf under the terms of the 
North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC), a 
side agreement to NAFTA. Unfortunately for the SNTMMSRM, 
the submission was declined.  This, however, did not stop 
 
MEXICO 00002195  002 OF 003 
 
 
international support for Gomez from growing. 
 
¶4.  Much of Gomez' and the SNTMMSRM's initial support came 
from unions in the US and Canada but a number of 
international unions and labor organizations have now taken 
up his cause.  The International Metalworkers Federation 
(IMF) has been very active on behalf of Gomez and the 
SNTMMSRM's as have the ILO's Committee of Freedom of 
Association and the International Federation Chemical, 
Energy and General Workers' Union (ICEM). After several 
years of advocating on behalf of the SNTMMSRM from abroad, 
the National Miners Union's international supporters sent a 
delegation to Mexico to examine the situation first-hand and 
to express their solidarity with the embattled organization. 
 
¶5.  The delegation included legislators from Canada (Jack 
Layton - New Democratic Party), Australia (Graham Perrett 
Australian Labor Party) and Peru (Maria Sumire de Conde - 
Union for Peru).  It also included union officials from 
Canada, the US, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Italy, 
Norway, Peru, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland and Sweden. 
During the five-day visit Canadian Jack Layton met with GOM 
Labor Secretary Javier Lozano.  The entire delegation met 
with Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Erbrard as well as with 
various members of the Mexican Congress.  They all also 
arranged to call on their respective embassies to voice 
their concerns.  The US officials from the USW and the 
AFL-CIO met with Mission Mexico's A/DCM on July 9. 
 
 
US LABOR UNION OFFICIALS EXPRESS SOLIDARITY WITH SNTMMSRM 
 
¶6. During the July 9 meeting between the US members of the 
delegation and post's A/DCM the main points raised were as 
follows. First and foremost the US members asked the 
Embassy to keep Washington informed of the SNTMMSRM 
situation. They worried that the issue might be ignored 
without regular updates from Mission Mexico.  Next was the 
oft repeated complaint that USG claims that NAFTA 
would raise wages and living standards in Mexico were 
false. In fact, they averred that NAFTA was lowering wages 
and living standards in Mexico and that this was putting 
pressure on US workers who are being pushed to compete with 
Mexican workers based on lowered wages. The US delegation 
members then pointed to the miners' union situation as 
proof that the NAALC does not work and that the failure of 
these types of side accords, in combination with the global 
economic crisis, would turn people worldwide against all 
free trade agreements. 
 
¶7. The US members asserted that the miner's 
union situation showed clearly that there is no rule of law 
in Mexico, especially with respect to labor rights. For 
example the rights to bargain collectively and freedom of 
association are not respected. They lamented that the 
SNTMMSRM's leader was being persecuted by the GOM, repeatedly 
having 
to defend himself in court form bogus charges based on 
forged documents, simply because he pushed for better wages 
for the workers. The US delegation members spoke at length 
about the lack of safe working conditions in he Mexican 
mining industry and attributed that to indifference by the 
GOM and the mine owners.  Finally the US delegation members 
asked if the rule of law in Mexico was not respected on 
something as basic as labor rights how could the USG expect 
anyone to take seriously the rule of law components of the 
Merida Initiative.  In response the A/DCM stressed how 
importantly the USG views safety issues and promised to 
convey the union officials concerns to Washington.  He 
affirmed that institution building is a key element of 
the Merida initiative and conveyed how seriously the USG 
administration regards labor and environmental issues. 
 
 
COMMENT 
 
¶8. The situation involving the National Miners Union ( 
SNTMMSRM) and its leader Napoleon Gomez Urrutia is 
extremely complicated. There is good reason to believe that 
all the parties involved in this situation have behaved in 
ways that are less than honest.  In post's view many of the 
 
MEXICO 00002195  003 OF 003 
 
 
criticism made by the international delegation have merit. 
On the other hand, there is substantial circumstantial 
evidence to indicate that Gomez is not the completely 
guiltless and unfairly persecuted individual that the 
international delegation made him out to be.  That said, it 
will take considerable hard evidence to shake the faith 
that the SNTMMSRM's and Gomez' international supporters 
have in him.  This will undoubtedly mean that the USW and 
the AFL-CIO will continue to press the USG to help resolve 
the Miners' Union situation in the SNTMMSRN's favor. 
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity and the North American 
Partnership Blog at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / 
 
FEELEY