Union Leaders Advocate for Mining Rights Across the Americas

At the second meeting of the International Mining Front (FIM), union leaders stressed the need for greater collaboration to safeguard workers' rights across borders. During the discussions, Peruvian representatives expressed their desire to strengthen their alliance with the SNTMMSSRM in Mexico.

In January, delegates from multiple mining unions in Mexico, Canada, Peru, and Argentina agreed to establish a continental union network known as FIM. This network is designed to operate as a unified front, advocating for the rights of mining workers across the entire continent.

The second meeting was attended by Ulices Martos Machuca, General Secretary, Union of Workers of the Yanacocha Mining Company in Peru; Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, Senator, MORENA, and Head, SNTMMSSRM in Mexico; Germán Choves Armendáriz, Director of Union Policy, Association of Technical and Professional Mining Personnel of Argentina; and Myles Sullivan, Director, United Steelworkers Union in Canada.

Martos underscored the importance of mining rights transcending local jurisdictions and expressed his union's desire to have a robust alliance with the SNTMMSSRM in Mexico. While acknowledging the legislative disparities between Peru and Mexico, Martos stressed the need to coordinate international efforts to strengthen the defense of mining rights in both nations.  "We encounter substantial legislative disparities in Peru, prompting us to explore alternatives and cement our goals through international collaboration. This approach will enable us to reinforce the protection of mining rights," Martos remarked.

Gómez Urrutia highlighted violations of workers' rights citing the situation at Newmont’s Peñasquito mine, where workers demanded higher profit shares from the company and initiated a strike. “The current circumstances compel us to stand together, as only through coordinated efforts can we effectively support workers and their well-being.”

Gómez Urrutia and the Mining Sector 

Gómez Urrutia inherited SNTMMSSRM’s leadership from his father and was self-exiled in Canada, returning when President López Obrador took office in 2018. He has been involved in several labor disputes including an hours-long strike in AcelorMittal on Jun. 15, 2022, and another at Americas Gold & Silver mine on Jan. 28, 2022, as reported by MBN. 

More recent events include Gómez Urrutia’s involvement in the 120-day-long strike at Newmont’s Peñasquito strike in Zacatecas. SNTMMSSRM’s members accused Newmont of violating their 2022-2024 collective labor agreement, arguing that profit payments (PTU) should increase from 10% to 20%. Newmont argued that it paid in time and urged the union to abide by the mutually agreed Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiated and signed by both parties in June 2022.  

While Peñasquito workers did not receive a PTU increase, they secured an 8% retroactive pay raise from Aug. 1, 2023, in addition to a payment equivalent to MX$152 million (US$8.3 million) distributed equally among all 2,000 workers as a compromise to end the strike.