Mexican National Strike -- Protest in San Diego

PROTEST IN SOLIDARITY WITH MEXICAN NATIONAL STRIKE!

WORKERS' STRUGGLE HAS NO BORDERS!

November 11th, 4:00pm

Hundreds of thousands of workers, teachers and students have declared a National Strike in defense of their rights, and against the fascistic actions of the Mexican puppet government; they have called for international solidarity. The 44,000 electric workers who were fired a few weeks ago will try to take back their jobs in central Mexico, clashes with the military are expected.

Meet outside of the Mexican Consulate in San Diego
1549 India St.
San Diego, CA 92101

Grupo por un Arte Revolucionario Independiente, Grupo Internacionalista

SME calls for national strike

By Mexico Solidarity Network The Electrical Workers Union (SME) called for a general strike on November 11 to fight the closure of Central Light and Power (LFC) by the Calderon administration last month. More than 44,000 workers lost their jobs in the surprise Saturday night police action that tried to abolish Mexico's largest democratic union. Since the closure of LFC, Calderon has faced increasing pressure to reconsider, both on popular and legal fronts. Telephone and university workers agreed to join the one day strike, and thousands of students from the National Autonomous University are expected to take an active role. Campesino organizations are also answering the call.

Last week more than 25,000 SME workers filed papers with federal courts asking for a restraining order against the closure. In a series of legal set-backs for the Calderon administration, a federal judge awarded a temporary restraining order on October 30, followed by a permanent ruling on November 6. A group of 500 volunteer lawyers also filed papers challenging the constitutionality of the closure. And the Federal Labor Board refused to emit a final decision on the termination of the labor contract between LFC and the SME.

Despite increasing pressure on workers to accept severance deals before mid November, most union members are resisting. As many as 34,000 workers from a workforce of 44,000 (which includes many salaried and office workers) signed legal complaints. In addition, the electrical system in central Mexico appears to be falling apart. Workers from the Federal Electric Commission (CFE) are trying to assume the responsibilities of former LFC workers, but much of the LFC technology is more than 50 years old and patched together haphazardly due to decapitalization over the past two decades by the federal government. Increasing power outages are leaving tens of thousands of workers unemployed and there is a distinct possibility of a general failure in coming weeks.

Despite a months-long media campaign by the federal government in conjunction with Mexico's television duopoly, Televisa and TV Azteca, SME workers are gradually winning the battle for public opinion. Calderon claimed the federal government was subsidizing LFC with more than US$3 billion annually, but the financial situation turns out to be much more complicated. LFC is a government business and the gradual decapitalization over two decades left the company without sufficient resources to generate electrical power for some 25 million people living in central Mexico. LFC was forced to purchase power generated by the CFE at high rates, then resell the power to companies at about one-third the initial cost. In addition, many politically connected companies and federal government agencies, including President Calderon's home at los Pinos, did not pay for electricity.


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