Mexico's mining industry virtually shut down as thousands of miners went on strike to support their union boss, who may be ousted amid accusations he responded poorly to a mining tragedy that left 65 coal miners dead.
Mexico's Mining and Metal Workers Union asked their 250,000 members to halt work indefinitely in coal, steel, copper and other mines throughout Mexico, in support of union president Napoleon Gomez Urrutia. Striking miners are also demanding better working conditions.
The full extent of the strike wasn't clear on Wednesday afternoon, although a number of major companies confirmed work stoppages and the union said the strike call had been obeyed everywhere in the country.
Gomez Urrutia, who took over the helm from his late father in 2002, is being challenged by Elias Morales, a union dissident who now claims to be the new leader.
The Labor Department said in a press statement that union statutes indicated that Morales, the dissident, was legally the new union leader.
The union said the strikes will continue until the government retracts its recognition of Morales, and denied that any union members signed documents supporting a change of leadership.
Gomez Urrutia's leadership came under fire by relatives of 65 coal miners who were killed Feb. 19 in an underground gas explosion, because he waited more than a week after the tragedy before visiting the Pasta de Conchos mine, 85 miles southwest of Eagle Pass, Texas.
When he did show up on Tuesday, he had to rush into the mining company's offices to escape the angry families confronting him, according to the Mexico City newspaper, Reforma.
On Tuesday, workers went on strike at Mexico's two largest copper mines as well as at Grupo Mexico's zinc refinery in San Luis Potosi and its zinc mine in Zacatecas state. The union cited demands for improved maintenance in calling the walkouts at Grupo Mexico, which owns the Pasta de Conchos mine where the miners died.
It also affected coal mining and steel maker Altos Hornos de Mexico, and the Mexican unit of Netherlands-based Mittal, Mexico's biggest steel maker with annual capacity of 3.4 million tonnes of steel slab, located in the Pacific port of Lazaro Cardenas.
Penoles, also struck, is the world's biggest silver producer, with annual production of 2.27 billion grams. The strikes contributed to a rise in copper prices on international markets, although silver prices slipped.
Local media quoted the Labor Department as saying all the strikes are illegal except for those at San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas, where the union is negotiating contract revisions.
Luis Rey, a spokesman for Penoles, said the company has asked the union to stagger the work stoppages so that the company can meet its commitments to customers.
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