"NO MATTER WHAT THE RESULT, WE WILL CONTINUE TO RESIST" By David Bacon TruthOut, 6/2/12 http://truth-out.org/news/item/9534-no-matter-what-the-result-we-will-continue-to-resist-says-mexican-electrical-workers-union-leader Humberto Montes de Oca is the international secretary for the Mexican Electrical Workers 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. 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. He was interviewed by David Bacon. Our organization is the oldest democratic union in Mexico. The Mexican Electrical Workers Union [SME] was founded in 1914 when the armies of Emiliano Zapata took Mexico City. Our founders saw that the peasant insurrection would finally create the conditions for their efforts to organize could succeed. They'd already made many attempts to set up the union in underground conditions, and endured repression because of it. In 1916 we organized Mexico's first general strike. Our leaders were imprisoned and condemned to death, but their lives were saved by huge demonstrations. In 1936 we went on strike against the Mexican Power and Light Company, which at that time had U.S., British and Canadian owners. Mexico City went without electricity for ninety days, except for emergency medical services. The strike was successful, and led to the negotiation of one of the most important labor contracts in Latin America. That strike helped set the stage for the nationalization of oil, and created the political conditions that made the expropriation possible. < snip > _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
