Mexican Mining Strike Spreads To 70 Companies, Union Says

Mexican Mining Strike Spreads to 70 Companies, Union Says

by Bloomberg

1st March 2006

A Mexican miners' strike expanded nationwide as about 60,000 workers joined to pressure for union independence, social benefits, and improved security after a Feb. 19 blast killed 65 workers at a coal mine, a union official said.

Miners at 70 companies including Mexico's largest silver producer, Industrias Penoles SA, and steelworks Altos Hornos de Mexico SA joined striking workers at Grupo Mexico, the world's fourth-largest copper producer, National Mining Union spokeswoman Consuelo Aguilar said in a phone interview from Mexico City.

The strike will continue until the government accepts union leader Napoleon Gomez as general secretary, Aguilar said. Labor Minister Francisco Salazar called the national strike illegal and said the government will only deal with rival leader Elias Morales.

Mexico is the world's third-largest silver producer.