Este apoyo sí se ve! Frente al consulado mexicano en San Francisco, acción en apoyo a los trabajadores del SME

Action at Mexican Consulate this Friday

Will Protest Government Abuse of Labor Rights

Activists from throughout the Bay Area will gather in front of the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco this Friday, June 4, at 12 noon, to protest escalating government repression against workers in Mexico. The Mexican Consulate is located at 532 Folsom Street.

93 SME workers have been out on hunger strike for 36 days to protest the union-busting assault by the Mexican government that began more than seven months ago. 50 hunger strikers have been hospitalized. SME hunger strikers have and are resisting privatization schemes to sell-off the nation's public power system to private corporations and wealthy individuals.

The resistance of the SME workers has been met with new acts of repression. On May 27, police commandos violently dislodged SME workers who sought to protect two public power sub-stations in Cuernavaca (Morelos), seriously injuring 12 workers, with two workers disappeared -- yet another violation of the union's labor rights and collective-bargaining agreement.

Meanwhile, the SME struggle against union-busting and privatization has received widespread union and community support throughout the United States and internationally. The national AFL-CIO leadership and the United Steelworkers of America, in particular, have issued strong letters to the Mexican government urging the reinstatement of all fired workers and the recognition of the union's collective-bargaining agreement.

Individuals and organizations participating in Friday's event include Tim Paulson, Executive Director of the San Francisco Labor Council, Frank Martin Del Campo, of the San Francisco chapter of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Bobbi Lopez, Tenderloin Housing Clinic, and Renee Saucedo, La Raza Centro Legal.