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The continued violations of the right to freedom of association by the Mexican government must stop. The IMF, ICEM, ITF and UNI are calling on affiliates to take action from 14 to 19 February, 2011, the fifth anniversary of the Pasta de Conchos mining tragedy.



In the early hours of February 19, 2006 a fireball exploded in the bowels of Grupo México’s Pasta de Conchos coal mine in the northern state of Coahuila, triggering cave-ins all along the 2.8 km number eight shaft and trapping 65 miners hundreds of meters below the earth. Rescue efforts were stopped after only five days in Mexico. As Grupo México and the Mexican government halted rescue efforts they also made it impossible to carry out a proper investigation into the cause of the mine collapse, believed by many to be illegal safety conditions in the mine. Since 2006 the Mexican government has escalated its illegal and violent attacks on the Mexican Miners’ Union (SNTMMSRM/Los Mineros), the union that demanded justice for the “industrial homicide” at Pasta de Conchos and the recovery of the miners’ bodies.



The Mexican Miners’ Union is not alone. The few other genuinely independent trade unions seeking to improve the lives of Mexican workers have also found themselves increasingly under fire.



In October 2009, President Calderón used an executive decree to dissolve the country’s second largest electrical power distributor and in doing so he also sacked the entire 44,000 workforce, and disbanded their union, the 95 year old Mexican Electrical Workers’ Union (SME).



Workers at call centers run by Atento (owned by Telefónica) faced violent repression by company goons and police in July when they attempted to kick out the company-imposed union and affiliate to the Mexican Telephone Workers’ Union (STRM).



Join us in calling on the Mexican government to:



1. Hold employer and government officials accountable for the Pasta de Conchos mine explosion that killed 65 miners on February 19, 2006.



2. Abolish systemic violations of workers’ freedom of association, including employer-dominated “protection contracts” and interference in union elections.



3. End the use of force—by the state or private parties—to repress workers’ legitimate demands for democratic unions, better wages and working conditions, and good health and safety conditions.



4. End the campaign of political persecution against the Mexican Miner’s Union and the Mexican Electrical Workers’ Union.



The campaign kicks off in Australia with a launch event supported by the Australian trade unions on 15 February. Co-ordinated by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), with support from AWU, AMWU, CFMEU, MUA and others, a rally and meeting with the Mexican Ambassador is planned for 18 February. Unions are also seeking a separate meeting to brief the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs.



There are also various actions planned in Brazil, Canada, France, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey and other countries.



We are waiting to hear from unions in many other countries. If you haven’t yet planned something in your country, please do and let us know as soon as possible on the contact information below. If your union is located in the countries listed above and you would like to join the action, please contact us on the email contacts listed below.



CAMPAIGN MATERIALS NOW AVAILABLE



To support the global days of action you can now download a series of print-ready campaign materials here.



The materials include:

- Campaign Poster (A2) - available in English, Spanish and Russian.

- Campaign Leaflet (A5, two sided) - available in English, Spanish, French, Russian and Japanese.

- Trade union rights in Mexico: background document (A4, x pages) - available in English, Spanish, French, Russian and Japanese.



We will also be reporting on each of the actions and request that affiliates send reports and where appropriate take high resolution photos and video clips of the action you take as soon as possible.



You can also tweet and follow others’ tweets on action taken by using the twitter hashtag #mexicoaction.