Friday, 10 September 2010 14:58

Calls on government to peacefully resolve 3-year dispute at Grupo Mexico

Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW), today announced a cross-border effort is being undertaken to place a rotating team of international observers in northern Mexico’s city of Cananea to monitor the presence of 3,000 illegal federal police who are intimidating striking copper miners of the Los Mineros independent union.

“We are in full support of the Los Mineros strike that passed a three-year mark last month, where a constitutional appeal for a temporary injunction against government efforts and mining giant Grupo Mexico to break the union was just won,” Gerard declared.  “But we are concerned that the massive federal police presence is not in keeping with the court ruling and allows protection of the strikebreakers paid by Grupo Mexico to disregard the rights of the union miners.”

Gerard said the USW will sponsor the first group of international observers arriving in Cananea over this weekend with American volunteer workers recruited in the midwest and from southwest border states. He said international human rights groups will be joining the effort to train a rotating team of observers to be near the picket lines with the miners ... more

Friday, 10 September 2010 14:58

Workers from the United Kingdom's Unite the Union and the United States' United Steelworkers continued their historic partnership this week during the USW's paper sector conference.

Members from both unions got together to discuss common issues and challenges and to talk about ideas for the unions' joint effort, Workers Uniting - the world's first global union.

During the conference, 30 councils made up of members representing 30 different paper industry companies elected a spokesperson to present their council's action plan and collective bargaining objectives to the entire paper conference.

In a move that shows just how far the Workers Uniting relationship has come, the MeadWestvaco Council elected Ian Eld - a paper worker from the UK - as their spokesperson. Check out his presentation in this short video clip:

Click here for more about Workers Uniting. And click here to follow members' blogs detailing their daily experience at the USW paper conference.