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Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: No Worker Protection
Meizhu Lui, for the editorial team
When you clock into your workplace, you often enter a dictatorship. If you speak up about the company violating your rights, you can lose your livelihood. Or worse. In some places you can lose your life.
In Mexico, Canadian mining companies are notorious for brutally suppressing workers. Jaime Pulido, local leader of the mineworkers’ union Los Mineros at the Camino Rojo mine, can attest to that. When, in 2024, workers struck to demand the pay promised by law, management brought in the big guns — the Sinaloa cartel. It “convinced” workers to reject Los Mineros and vote in a newly invented company union, designed to protect the employers’ interests.
The Mexican labor courts failed to take the intimidation seriously and legitimated the “union” voted in under duress. So in July 2024, consistent with USMCA labor rules, the mineworkers filed a Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRLM) complaint with the US Trade Representative and Department of Labor. The US found credible evidence that the company had violated the workers’ right to free association and referred the case to Mexican labor officials.
Mexico failed the mine workers a second time. It allowed the decertification of Los Mineros to stand, ruling that the employer hadn’t committed any criminal activity; a “third party” was responsible, and that was an issue for Security, not Labor, to address.
The US — for once the good guys! — expressed dismay, and requested a panel with a neutral third party to mediate. Finally, in February 2026 — 18 months after the “rapid” RRLM was filed — the panel decided. Mexico was wrong! The evidence was sufficient to conclude that the employer’s denial of rights was severe. In an important precedent, they ruled that even when it’s a third party that commits criminal acts, since that interferes with the “free association” of workers, it is indeed the Labor Department’s responsibility to protect the workers.
But Jaime’s jubilation was short-lived. “The panel said we were right. But nothing has changed at the mine. The protection union is still there. The people who threatened me face no consequences. I cannot return to my job. I am still receiving threats and living in hiding.”
Big Trouble at the Camino Rojo Mine
We first printed this interview in December 2024 [ https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/a9813356-4a12-477e-a37d-2cf309f0181a?j=eyJ1IjoiODN3ajEifQ.U3VDyH0_98v8B5aewg89AocuXPz6-i6280xy5ik9k8Q ].
Armed gunmen broke into your home because of your union activity. What happened?
In April, gunmen threatened [ https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/f1766518-f39b-414d-a028-379bbe38b285?j=eyJ1IjoiODN3ajEifQ.U3VDyH0_98v8B5aewg89AocuXPz6-i6280xy5ik9k8Q ] me. They told me to stop fighting for the rights of my fellow workers at the Camino Rojo mine, where we are all members of Los Mineros. The company refused to pay us what we are owed by law, and we went on strike. I have two daughters in primary school. To keep them safe, my wife and I left the Mazapil area of Zacatecas, where the mine is located, and moved from Zacatecas to Coahuila State.
On July 12, we went back to Mazapil to get my daughters’ papers to change schools. A truck with six armed men inside blocked the road so my car couldn’t pass them. I got out of the car so that if they shot me, they wouldn’t shoot my family. They beat me. Armed men entered my house later on September 29, but I was already in Coahuila.
These guys are part of an organized criminal group that does money laundering and other illegal activities. It’s local, but it’s part of the Sinaloa Cartel. Camino Rojo hired them to get rid of Los Mineros as the workers’ representative union. The police work with these criminals too. We have no protection.
Tell us about Camino Rojo mining company.
The Canadian company, Orla, owns it. It’s an open-pit mine, and it has some of the richest ore deposits even for the Zacatecas state, which produces more mineral resources than anywhere else in the country. Last year, 97% of what workers mined was gold, and 3% was silver. At first, they predicted that the ground had enough to keep the mine open for ten years, producing 94,000 oz of gold and 597,000 oz of silver annually. But now, after finding new veins of lead, zinc and manganese, they say they can keep the mine operating for another 30 or 40 years. This past year was a lot more profitable than they expected.
The mine opened in 2021, and I started working there in May. Los Mineros was officially recognized by the state as the workers’ representative in September of that year. I was elected secretary. There are 300 employees, 160 of them in the union; the others are in management or working as administrative employees.
The company boasts that they are a “socially responsible” business that supports workers and the community. They have some programs for kids that are good publicity — they like to take a lot of photos! But the cost to them compared to what they make is like a few pesos in your pocket.
What was the issue between the union and the company?
In Mexico, we have a law that large companies must share their profits with their workers. The Employee Participation in Company Profits [ https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/ee817f22-d643-4537-9a1b-58c7a317a6e1?j=eyJ1IjoiODN3ajEifQ.U3VDyH0_98v8B5aewg89AocuXPz6-i6280xy5ik9k8Q ], or PTU, requires companies to distribute 10% of their profits to their workers. Camino Rojo made 89 million dollars, with a 64% profit margin. They were supposed to pay us 500,000 pesos each. They wouldn’t pay.
Mexican workers have the right to strike if they file a strike notice with the Department of Labor. We filed when the company refused to pay us what we were due. But instead, the company decided to replace our union with an outside charro [ https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/91ea1fb3-e857-4f37-b6af-49cdeb322c0c?j=eyJ1IjoiODN3ajEifQ.U3VDyH0_98v8B5aewg89AocuXPz6-i6280xy5ik9k8Q ] union, one that would cooperate with the company against the workers. They wanted workers to sign cards for that other union and to ask for a new representation election, which requires 10% of the workers to sign. To make sure they got enough signatures, they hired criminals to drive to workers’ houses. Under threat, many signed.
In August, through the labor section of the USMCA, we filed a petition with the US Department of Labor to intervene since our rights were being violated. Our long-time president, Napoleon Gomez Urrutia — who once had his home invaded too and had to move to Canada — helped us with this. The US agreed that our complaint was valid. So, then Camino Rojo offered us 70,000 pesos — far less than the 500,000 that we were entitled to.
A new union representation election was scheduled for Friday, Nov. 22. Before that, the Canadian Steelworkers Union filed their own complaint under the USMCA, only the second time Canada has filed a complaint. As a result, the Mexican army was sent to protect the vote, and it went ahead as scheduled.
What was the result of the union representation election to replace Los Mineros with a charro union?
Before the election, once again, the criminals showed up at the homes of Los Mineros activists and told them to stay home; 90% of the workers live in three small villages near the mine. So, the whole area was blanketed in fear.
At 6:00 AM, the sympathizers of the charro union showed up to push for a vote in their favor. I also went at 6:00 AM and stayed until noon. Six men inside a gray Silverado truck were watching me; they know my car. Three army trucks protected me when I went in to vote. I needed them to accompany me on the 40-minute drive to the border of Zacatecas and Coahuila. At the border, a group of my friends was waiting for me.
Once I got to Coahuila, I was safe because the criminal gangs don’t go into Coahuila. They don’t work for the Coahuila government as they do in Zacatecas — and yet the governor of Zacatecas, David Monreal, is with Morena! It’s not surprising that Los Mineros lost the election, and probably the vote was corrupted.
Will you go back to work? What next?
Camino Rojo told me to come back, and they would “work things out,” but I know if I go back, I’ll be dead. I’m not going to file a complaint; the judge is bought. Canada is looking the other way. We workers held a press conference in front of the Canadian embassy, but we didn’t get past the guard at the door. They wouldn’t let us in. They even called the police on us!
The US found that our rights were violated, and they then give the case to Mexico — but the Mexican labor department said the issues were resolved. Resolved?! I still get threatening texts from the cartel guy, so my family and I have to stay in hiding, without rights and without protection.
On Dec. 12, 2024, the US Trade Representative asked for the case to go to a panel with an impartial third party as is provided in the labor section of the USMCA. It took the panel a year and a half to make any decision, with Jaime remaining in limbo.
After this interview, the case continued. Please see the Introduction for an update.
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*Sin Muros [ https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/901ec950-da3d-4470-9d39-9a4e5278ee13?j=eyJ1IjoiODN3ajEifQ.U3VDyH0_98v8B5aewg89AocuXPz6-i6280xy5ik9k8Q ] with English subtitles: José Luis and Kurt host a weekly TV show on Canal Once that analyzes Mexico-US relations with English subtitles.
Drop a line to meizhului@gmail.com [ mailto:meizhului@gmail.com ]
Women and Gaza: “If They Touch One of Us, We All Respond”
“Break off, break off — relations with Israel!” The cry flooded the streets of Mexico City on May 15 and 16 at the demonstrations marking the 78th anniversary of Palestine’s Nakba. The Nakba — meaning “catastrophe”— represents what was, for some, the “creation of Israel,” but for others, the beginning of a nightmare: a massacre that hasn’t ended and that seeks to erase an entire people.
From all corners of the globe, we rise up to demand that governments and international bodies not merely speak out but take action against this genocide.
Here in Mexico, feminist collectives have learned that patriarchal violence knows no borders; it is a colonial and global structure that dispossesses people of both their lives and their land. For this reason, the slogan currently sweeping the world — “From the river to the sea” — is not foreign to us; rather, it is deeply intertwined with our own cry of resistance: “If they touch one of us, we all respond.” This is a pledge of international solidarity that connects the women resisting in Mexico with those sustaining life in Palestine.
We absolutely repudiate this cruelty — recently made visible when Israel seized and tortured participants of the humanitarian aid flotilla — and the lack of a global response. In the face of this humanitarian catastrophe, it’s essential to acknowledge how different the impact on women is: in armed conflicts, women become — in the eyes of settlers — mere objects to be desecrated, destroyed and discarded. Agencies such as UN Women and Amnesty International have documented how Israeli forces have systematically committed violations against women, ranging from sexual violence to deliberately destroying health centers and specialized hospitals.
In the face of this dehumanizing violence, women across both Mexico and Palestine respond with organization, care and hope. These are not isolated struggles, but rather a united front against systems that presume certain bodies and territories can be sacrificed.
The resistance of Palestinian women stands as a beacon of dignity. If oppression is global, the response is too: to respond for one is to respond for all, in any corner of the planet.
José Luis Granados Ceja, Hondurasgate: Key Leaked Audio Files, Revealing U.S. Intervention in Honduras, Found Authentic “With Moderate Confidence” [ https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/25e301ad-fee3-43b6-8d96-041fbaa7011c?j=eyJ1IjoiODN3ajEifQ.U3VDyH0_98v8B5aewg89AocuXPz6-i6280xy5ik9k8Q ] Drop Site News. Analysis by Earshot found that three leaked Hondurasgate audio files, revealing a complex plot by Washington to sideline leftist governments in Mexico and Colombia, are likely to be authentic.
Valeria Duarte Galleguillos, Hondurasgate: la investigación sobre una trama de injerencia en América Latina, respaldada por dos pericias forenses [ https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/708a49c7-2ea8-48ae-b02b-5642f9053ace?j=eyJ1IjoiODN3ajEifQ.U3VDyH0_98v8B5aewg89AocuXPz6-i6280xy5ik9k8Q ] Diario Red. A pesar de los intentos del expresidente de Honduras condenado por narcotráfico y por algunos medios de sembrar dudas sobre la investigación, la autenticidad de las grabaciones fue verificada tanto por la auditoría del equipo de hondurasgate.ch —que usó el software de la firma Phonexia e hizo públicos los audios originales y el informe de la misma— como por un análisis externo de Earshot encargado por Drop Site News.
The Lesson from Cuba that the EZLN Has Reminded Us [ https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/c7c8f419-af4a-4a60-ae4f-83e4245c8144?j=eyJ1IjoiODN3ajEifQ.U3VDyH0_98v8B5aewg89AocuXPz6-i6280xy5ik9k8Q ] School for Chiapas. Cuba chose socialism. And despite everything, it still stands. That is the lesson the Zapatistas have just reminded us of in the mountains of southeastern Mexico.
La corrupción: garrote para atacar a México [ https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/17e5c997-ce3f-419f-a9c1-5c7f8b02690c?j=eyJ1IjoiODN3ajEifQ.U3VDyH0_98v8B5aewg89AocuXPz6-i6280xy5ik9k8Q ] La Jornada International. Muchos en México perciben la decisión de revelar públicamente los cargos contra el gobernador en Sinaloa como una represalia por las críticas de México a la participación de la CIA en Chihuahua
United States: A Dangerous Collaboration [ https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/f6eb7161-27bd-418d-8955-2b3e0597aa4d?j=eyJ1IjoiODN3ajEifQ.U3VDyH0_98v8B5aewg89AocuXPz6-i6280xy5ik9k8Q ] La Jornada International. For Mexicans, the current round of conflict between the two countries did not begin with these accusations, but with the deaths of two Central Intelligence Agency agents in the state of Chihuahua a month ago during a counternarcotics operation.
Renata Aguilar, El silencio de las huelgas en México [ https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/1b62ec26-6696-4df8-8315-7b4e52163aaf?j=eyJ1IjoiODN3ajEifQ.U3VDyH0_98v8B5aewg89AocuXPz6-i6280xy5ik9k8Q ] Rebelión. Las huelgas por sí solas no bastan para enfrentar al sistema, son solo un medio de lucha y su éxito depende de la combatividad y conciencia de la clase trabajadora.
Roxanne D. Brown, Why It’s Essential to Fix the USMCA [ https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/9909e367-c469-46fe-a317-b551db0b3f80?j=eyJ1IjoiODN3ajEifQ.U3VDyH0_98v8B5aewg89AocuXPz6-i6280xy5ik9k8Q ] Counterpunch. The review also needs to go beyond steps to safeguard rights and boost wages. It’s just as important to address Mexico’s lax environmental standards, which draw employers happy to do an end run around the more stringent regulations in America and Canada.
Juan Carlos Espinosa, Enferma y bajo amenaza de despojo: “Si no dejo mi casa me voy a la cárcel” [ https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/91a64bf5-6ef5-4919-a347-f28224633bf8?j=eyJ1IjoiODN3ajEifQ.U3VDyH0_98v8B5aewg89AocuXPz6-i6280xy5ik9k8Q ] El País. La Fiscalía capitalina vincula a proceso a María Guadalupe Sánchez, de 61 años, por no entregar a una desarrolladora el cuarto en el que ha vivido toda su vida.
Mexican Authorities Dismantle Massive Fuel Theft Scheme [ https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/3efcf0a8-631a-4be5-a397-826c6e471ddf?j=eyJ1IjoiODN3ajEifQ.U3VDyH0_98v8B5aewg89AocuXPz6-i6280xy5ik9k8Q ] Telesur. The discovery of a tunnel secretly connected to a PEMEX storage terminal in Santa Catarina, Nuevo León, lead to the seizure of more than 205,000 liters of fuel and dozens of vehicles.
Susana Antón Rodriguez, Arribó barco con ayuda solidaria enviada por México y Uruguay [ https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/026e7933-7a42-43a0-ae0e-38427e6f089f?j=eyJ1IjoiODN3ajEifQ.U3VDyH0_98v8B5aewg89AocuXPz6-i6280xy5ik9k8Q ] Granma. Un nuevo cargamento de ayuda solidaria enviado por México, de conjunto con Uruguay, arribó este lunes a Cuba en medio de las dificultades económicas que enfrenta el país debido al recrudecimiento del bloqueo económico, comercial y financiero impuesto por EU.
Bulletin Team: Courtney Childs, Heather Dashner, Pedro Gellert, Vicky Hamlin, Agatha Hinman, Bruce Hobson, Meizhu Lui, Samuel Martínez, Sebastián Ostria, Jay Watts.

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