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Over the weekend Federal Police seized the plants of the Central Light and Power Company of Mexico, which provides electricity to Mexico City and several states in central Mexico. The government of President Felipe Calderón announced that the company would be liquidated and all its approximately 45,000 workers fired, which would mean the destruction of the Mexican Electrical Workers Union (SME). Another 20,000 retirees are also now severed from their former employer and their union. The government’s action directly affects at least 250,000 workers and their families in the Federal District and states neighboring the capital.
The government wants to eliminate SME because the union has been a leading force in organizing to oppose Calderón’s economic policies, and in particular its plan to privatize the electrical industry. The government will apparently put the Central Light and Power facilities under the control of the Federal Electrical Commission whose workers are represented by a union loyal to the government. The union argues that this will be the first step to privatizing the industry, though the government denies this.
The government wants to eliminate SME because the union has been a leading force in organizing to oppose Calderón’s economic policies, and in particular its plan to privatize the electrical industry. The government will apparently put the Central Light and Power facilities under the control of the Federal Electrical Commission whose workers are represented by a union loyal to the government. The union argues that this will be the first step to privatizing the industry, though the government denies this.
Stand with the Mexican Electrical Workers Union
