[Peace-discuss] Fw: CLNews: Mexican Government Seizes Power Plants, Liquidates Company, Fires Workers, Union in Jeopardy

Wed Oct 14 19:11:37 CDT 2009

----- Original Message ----- 
From: listadmin 
To: ,,,CLNews Members 
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 12:08 PM
Subject: CLNews: Mexican Government Seizes Power Plants,Liquidates Company, Fires Workers, Union in Jeopardy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "International activist list" <ue_international-update at ueinternational.org>
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 11:15 AM
Subject: [UE International Update] Mexican Government Seizes Power Plants,Liquidates Company, Fires Workers, Union in Jeopardy

Mexican Government Seizes Power Plants, Liquidates Company, Fires
Workers, Union in Jeopardy
by Dan La Botz

http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/labotz111009p.html

Mexican Federal Police last night and early this morning seized the
plants of the Central Light and Power Company of Mexico (LyF) which
provides electricity to Mexico City and several states in central
Mexico.  The government of President Felipe Calderón also announced
the liquidation of the company, the termination of the workers, and
thereby the elimination of the Mexican Electrical Workers Union (SME)
which has opposed the government's policies.  (See the call for
Solidarity with Mexican Electrical Workers Union at end of this
article.)

The government's action has two goals, one political and the other
economic.  First, the government wants to eliminate the Mexican
Electrical Workers Union which has been the leading force in
organizing to oppose the Calderón government's economic policies and
in particular its plan to privatize the electrical industry.  Second,
the government plans to actually eliminate the Central Light and Power
Company, possibly to merge its facilities with the Federal Electrical
Commission (CFE), and eventually to sell the facilities to a
corporation.

Pivotal Moment

While we have become accustomed to the Calderón government's attacks
on labor unions such as the Mexican Miners and Metalworkers Union, and
its massive use of police and military force, this is not just one
more incident.  This is a turning point.  The Mexican government's
attack on the Mexican Electrical Workers Union -- a union central to
resisting government policies and building labor and social movement
coalitions, and located in Mexico City which is the center of
political opposition to the government -- may well turn out to be a
watershed event in the country's recent history.

As Mexican journalist Luis Hernandez Navarro wrote in the Mexico City
daily La Jornada, "The police and military attack against the
electrical workers represents a serious setback in the precarious
democratic life of the country.  It provokes a huge short circuit.  It
establishes and unfortunate precedent.  By attempting to use violence
to solve a conflict created by the government itself, it takes us back
to the darkest stages of authoritarianism."

The Union Response

Martín Esparza, Mexican Electrical Workers Union general secretary,
called Calderón's action "unconstitutional."  He called upon its
65,000 active and retired members to remain calm and to resist
provocation.  At the same time a union statement said its members
would defend the nationalized electrical industry, their union, and
their constitutional rights.  Members gathered in front of the SME
union hall and also at the Monument of the Revolution in Mexico City
and rallied in defense of their state-owned company, their jobs, and
their union.

A union statement issued early Sunday morning said, "They have
declared war on us and we are going to respond, always exercising our
Constitutional rights and guarantees, of that there is no doubt."

Humberto Montes de Oca, a union spokesman said the union had three demands:

1.   The revocation of the government decree liquidating the company.

2.   The immediate evacuation of the Federal Police from the plants.

3.   Discussions between the government and the union about financial
and administrative issues.

The Mexican Electrical Workers Union has called upon Mexican unions
and unions of other countries to rally to their support.

The union said that with the military having occupied the power
plants, it was no longer in a position to insure the delivery of
electrical power in the region.

Some SME union members were reportedly calling upon the union to
declare a general strike, which would shut off power to Mexico City
and surrounding states, affecting tens of millions of people.  So far
the union has not decided to take any such action.

No Surprise

While the Calderón government moved suddenly last night and this
morning to seize the plants, its actions were no surprise.  (See the
government decree "DECRETO por el que se extingue el organismo
descentralizado Luz y Fuerza del Centro"
http://dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5114004&fecha=11/10/2009
published at the Web site of the Diario Oficial de la Federación.)
The Calderón government and its predecessors have often expressed
their desire to merge the Central Light and Power Company with the
Federal Electrical Commission, which provides power to the rest of the
country, and to privatize electrical power generation.

Secretary of Labor Javier Lozano declared in September that the
Mexican Electrical Workers Union elections were invalid and that
general secretary Martín Esparza and other union officers would not be
recognized by the government.  Without legally recognized union
officials, the union could not engage in contract negotiations or
other activities.

Members of a dissident group in the union, tacitly supported by the
government, had also carried out an armed attack on the union hall and
robbed union documents and checks.

And last month there were already rumors of the government plan to use
the police to seize the facilities.

The government justified its actions by arguing that the Light and
Power Company was both inefficient and exorbitantly expensive.  The
government said it was prepared spend $20 billion pesos (about US$2
billion) to pay workers severance and retirement.

Long History of State Violence

At the moment 500 Federal Police officers have taken control of over
100 Light and Power plants, reportedly roughing up some workers in the
process.  While so far there has been no serious violence, in the
event of union resistance, the police -- possibly backed up by the
army -- will use force to suppress the union.  In past instances of
government-union conflict in Mexico, such repression has led to deaths
and beatings, while the government has then indicted union leaders,
resulting in convictions and long jail terms.

Federal Police have been used in the last three years to attempt to
break strikes of miners and steelworkers as well as to try to crush
popular social movements, resulting in deaths, rape, and beatings.
Mexican police have been used repeatedly in the past to occupy the
facilities of telephone workers and others to break strikes.  The
Mexican government used the police or army to crush militant movements
of workers in 1959, of students in 1968, and of electrical workers in
1975.

Solidarity with the Electrical Workers

The Mexican Electrical Workers Union has asked for international
solidarity in resisting the government liquidation of the company, the
termination of the workers, and thus the destruction of the union.  If
you wish to protest this action, you should write to President Felipe
Calderón at <felipe.caldeon at presidencia.gob.mx>.  If you wish to show
your solidarity with the Mexican Electrical Workers Union (SME), you
should copy your protest email to <sinmexel at sme.org.mx>.

________________________________

Dan La Botz is a Cincinnati-based teacher, writer and activist.
Contact him through his home page: <DanLaBotz.wikidot.com>.

-- 
Robin Alexander
UE Director of International Affairs
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE)
One Gateway Center, Suite 1400
PGH., PA. 15222-1416

412-471-8919
412-471-8999 FAX

Labor and related news from Mexico is reported monthly in Mexican
Labor News and Analysis.  Check it out on our web site:
www.ueinternational.org

Sign up to receive Mexican labor News and Analysis on a monthly basis
and occasional action alerts
at:http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/ue_international-update

If you received this message from a friend, you can
sign up for the UE International Action Alert mailing list at:
 http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/ue_international-update

The UE International Action Alert mailing list is managed by the
International Department of UE, the United Electrical Radio and
Machine Workers of America.

To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, please go to http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/ue_international-update

Information about this mailing list will not be shared.
Please DO NOT reply to this mailing to unsubscribe.

VISIT UE's international page at http://www.ueinternational. org
or the UE's main page at http://www.ranknfile-ue.org
_______________________________________________
UE_International-update mailing list
UE_International-update at ueinternational.org
http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/ue_international-update 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/peace-discuss/attachments/20091014/6963b697/attachment.html