Labor Protests Calderon’s Visit to Washington

Common Dreams - Any questions as to which American president Felipe Calderon most admires were answered last October when he fired 44,000 members of the independent Mexican Electrical Workers Union. First, he refused to negotiate with them, then he fired them. By all indications, the Harvard-educated president of Mexico is an unabashed disciple of Ronald Reagan.

Further evidence is seen in Calderon's brutal treatment of Los Mineros, the independent mine workers union that has been on strike at the Cananea copper mine in the northern state of Sonora, since July of 2007. With two miners already dead and many more injured in battles with the military, Calderon has threatened to have federal armed forces seize control of the mine.

These Los Mineros workers aren't on strike because they're radicals, or dissidents, or the greedy bastards that the corporate-dominated American media typically portray American strikers. This strike isn't all about money. Rather, the Los Mineros strike was precipitated largely by health and safety concerns at the Cananea mine, a facility owned by the powerful Grupo Mexico consortium. Read more.