The National Union of Mine, Metal, Steel and Allied Workers of the Mexican Republic ( es, Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros, Metalúrgicos, Siderúrgicos y Similares de la República Mexicana, or SNTMMSSRM) is a
union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
of
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
and
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
miners
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...
, as well as
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
and
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
workers, in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. It was founded in 1934, and in 1936 it became an affiliate of the newly formed
Confederation of Mexican Workers
The Confederation of Mexican Workers (''Confederación de Trabajadores de México'' (CTM)) is the largest confederation of labor unions in Mexico. For many years, it was one of the essential pillars of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional ( ...
(CTM).
The SNTMMSSRM´s leaders were initially staunch allies of
Vicente Lombardo Toledano
Vicente Lombardo Toledano (July 16, 1894 – November 16, 1968) was one of the foremost Mexican labor leaders of the 20th century, called "the dean of Mexican Marxism ndthe best-known link between Mexico and the international world of Mar ...
, the head of the CTM. In 1949, when Lombardo Toledano left the CTM to form the rival
General Union of Workers and Campesinos (UGOCM) and the
Popular Party, the SNTMMSRM joined these new organizations. The unions of
railroad workers (STFRM) and
oil workers (STPRM) also supported Lombardo Toledano.
The ruling
Institutional Revolutionary Party
The Institutional Revolutionary Party ( es, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, ; abbr. PRI) is a political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 and held uninterrupted power in the country for 71 years, from 1929 to 2000, first as the Nati ...
(PRI) and the CTM saw Lombardo Toledano and these unions as a threat, and in the 1950 the government installed ''
charros'' (corrupt labor bosses) in the leadership of the SNTMMSSRM. The most important of these charros was
Napoleón Gómez Sada
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
, who was the president of the SNTMMSSRM for decades until he was replaced by his son in 2001.
The pro-government SNTMMSSRM leaders faced little opposition from the miners' locals (except for Local 65 in
Cananea
Cananea is a city in the Mexican state of Sonora, Northwestern Mexico. It is the seat of the Municipality of Cananea, in the vicinity of the U.S−Mexico border.
The population of the city was 31,560 as recorded by the 2010 census. The p ...
,
Sonora
Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...
). However, a strong reform campaign was initiated in the 1970s and 1980s by steelworkers' locals.
The current leader of the SNTMMSSRM is
Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, a disgraced union leader accused of having embezzled US$55 million that was supposed to be used to pay workers' severance payments at the Mexicana de Cananea mining company and that ended up being diverted by Gómez Urrutia, who later fled to Canada to avoid arrest. In April 2021, Gómez Urrutia was sentenced
to return the US$55 million. He is currently free from jail thanks to the immunity he benefits from as a senator.
Further reading
*Raul Trejo Delarbe and Anibal Yanez, "The Mexican Labor Movement: 1917-1975," ''Latin American Perspectives'', Vol. 3, No. 1 (Winter, 1976), 133-153.
*Ian Roxborough and Ilan Izberg, "Union Locals in Mexico: The 'New Unionism' in Steel and Automobiles," ''Journal of Latin American Studies'', Vol. 15, No. 1 (May 1983), 119-126.
*Adrian A. Bantjes, ''As If Jesus Walked on Earth: Cardenismo, Sonora, and the Mexican Revolution'' (Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 1998).
* Michael Snodgrass, ''Deference and Defiance in Monterrey: Workers, Paternalism, and Revolution in Mexico, 1890-1950'' (Cambridge University Press, 2003)
* M. Snodgrass, “‘New Rules for the Unions’: Mexico’s Steel Workers Confront Privatization and the Neoliberal Challenge,” ''Labor: Working-Class History of the America''s 4 (Fall 2007), 81-103.
References
References:
{{DEFAULTSORT:SNTMMSRM
Trade unions in Mexico
International Metalworkers' Federation
Metal trade unions
Mining trade unions
Trade unions established in 1934