A Political Fallout Rains from the Coahuila Mine Disaster

“The explosion that killed 65 miners in the border state of Coahuila last month is sending fallout far and wide. Bursting open a new political can of worms, the coal mine disaster is setting loose labor-management conflicts, heightening government-union conflicts, firing up intra-union rivalries, and exposing possible corruption in all the institutions entrusted with safeguarding the lives of miners and the well-being of their families.

On March 1, about 270,000 members of Mexico’s National Mineworkers Union launched work stoppages in several states in protest of an attempt by the federal Labor Ministry to remove Napoleon Gomez Urrutia as secretary-general of the miners’ union. The national action was primarily aimed at facilities operated by Grupo Mexico, the owner of the Pasta de Conchos mine in Coahuila where the 65 coal miners died. Safety grievances and the lack of equipment at other company mines were also raised as justifications for the mass worker protests. Erupting during an already turbulent federal election year, a prolonged labor dispute in the mining industry is bound to have unforeseen political repercussions.”

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