Federal Judge Validates Fertinal’s Strike

The National Union of Mining, Metallurgical, Steel and Similar Workers of the Mexican Republic (SNTMMSSRM) reported that a federal judge issued a definitive suspension to a declaration issued by the Federal Labor Board (JFCA) declaring a strike of Fertinal workers to be invalid. The ruling will allow unionized workers of the PEMEX subsidiary to continue the strike.

On Sept. 5, 2022, JFCA declared the strike that workers started as non-existent, as the workers asked the company to respect the collective bargaining agreement and ensure safe working conditions in the plant located in Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan. To counter JFCA’s declaration, SNTMMSSRM filed for an amparo at a labor court in Mexico City, just a day after the statement was made public. “Supported in the provisions 128 and 139 of the Amparos Law, [this court] grants a definitive suspension, to keep issues as they are and the competent authority to not execute the September 5 resolution,” reads the court’s statement.

In addition, union representatives urged labor authorities to kickstart negotiation talks with both parties to solve the three weeks-long conflict. “The [court’s] resolution opens the door to solve the conflict in a conciliatory manner, we must restore dialogue,” said Enrique Rivera, General Secretary of Section 274, SNTMMSSRM.
The labor dispute has escalated during the past two weeks. according to workers, the company refused to share its profits, arguing that in 2021, it did not generate any revenue. In addition, the employees claim that the Fertinal plant does not comply with the minimum of legally required safety standards. 

This week, representatives of SNTMMSSRM sent a letter to the Governor of Michoacan, Alfredo Ramírez, asking his government to audit the company and determine if the company lied to workers about its production status and income. Unionized workers say that the company delivered incomplete information to President López Obrador, and added that company representatives told him that the labor dispute was just a contractual issue. 

Fertinal was created after the state fertilizer company Fertimex was privatized in 1992. In 2015, the government of Enrique Peña Nieto decided to acquire it as part of the former president’s strategy to reactivate the production of fertilizers in Mexico. Therefore, the company was acquired by PEMEX in what some media called a murky transaction. Under the government of López Obrador, Fertinal plays an important role, since the company produces fertilizers that are delivered to farmers as part of a federal strategy to reactivate agricultural production. 

The company owns two assets: the Industrial Center in Michoacan and its Mining Center in Baja California Sur. Fertinal is focused on the production of phosphate fertilizer, it also produces low and high-density explosives widely used in the Mexican mining industry.