Contact: R.J. Hufnagel, 412-562-2450
PITTSBURGH (February 21) – The United Steelworkers (USW) union released the following statement today from USW International President Leo W. Gerard marking the anniversary of the 2006 Pasta de Conchos mine disaster that killed 65 people.
“February 19 marked the 11th anniversary of the explosion at Grupo Mexico's Pasta de Conchos mine in Coahuila, Mexico, that took the lives of 65 workers. Eleven years later, the bodies of 63 miners are still entombed in the mine.
“There has been no prosecution of any official of Grupo Mexico, which continues to violate the rights of its workers in Mexico and Peru, and at Asarco in the United States. No government official has gone to jail. Napoleón Gómez, who denounced the deaths as ‘industrial homicide,’ leads the mineworkers union – Los Mineros – from Canada where he is in exile because of false criminal charges that the Mexican government continues to pursue even after the country’s highest courts have cleared him. And despite the demands of Los Mineros, workers continue to die in Mexico’s mines.
“The Steelworkers remember our fallen brothers at Pasta de Conchos, their families, and their union. We will continue fighting shoulder to shoulder with Napoleón Gómez and Los Mineros until there is justice for the victims of this crime.”
The USW is the largest industrial union in North America, representing workers in a range of industries including metals, mining, rubber, paper and forestry, oil refining, health care, security, hotels, and municipal governments and agencies.
USW members Greg Garcia of Local 6066, Pete Trinidad of Local 6787, and Erik Alcantar of Local 9077 joined members of Los Mineros on Sunday, Feb. 19, at Pasta de Conchos on the 11th anniversary of the mine explosion.