Protest Against Mexican Government Anti-Labor Repression
“The experience of the past privatizations, including even those in the U.S., is that private owners invest their money to make a profit, not to provide a service. That affects the users of services, because the rates they pay go up while the quality of the services provided goes down. Investors only care about their profits. They don’t invest in maintenance or in the means by which the service is provided. High rates and deficient service, in other words.
“For workers, it means losing what we’ve achieved over decades of struggle. Things start going backwards. What we have now isn’t some kind of privilege, but rights that cost a lot to win. They are the minimum, which allow us to work with dignity, and support our families and ourselves.”
— Humberto Montes de Oca is the international secretary for the Mexican Electrical Workers (SME) union. Two years ago, its 44,000 members were all fired, when the Mexican government took over generating stations by force to set the stage for privatizing electricity. In a recent interview with David Bacon, Montes de Oca describes the role the union has played on the left in Mexico, its resistance to privatization, and the way fired workers are now forced to migrate to survive. With Mexico’s presidenetial election just weeks away, he explains why his union, like the miners and other independent unions, are supporting Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the candidate of the Party of the Democratic Revolution.
Trade union activists and other popular organizations protest in Mexico City's main square, the Zocalo, on the day Mexican President Felipe Calderon gave his annual speech about the state of the country. The protest, called the Day of the Indignant, was organized by unions including the Mexican Electrical Workers (SME) because the Mexican government fired 44,000 electrical workers and dissolved the state-owned company they worked for, in an effort to smash their union. Protestors also demanded jobs, labor rights and an end to the repression of political dissidents. SME members had been camped out in the square since May. Copyright David Bacon