MEXICAN MINING

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 61, 14 March 1939, Page 5

MEXICAN MINING

UNION DOMINANCE

SERIOUS POSITION

EXORBITANT DEMANDS

(Specrai to the "Evening Post") PALMERSTON N., March 11. The absolute dominance of the Mexican mining industry by the unions was the salient feature of life in that country as seen by the Rev. G. W. Davidson, formerly vigar of Woodville. He has just returned from visiting Ijis son. who is a mill superintendent and assistant manager of a gold and silver mine at Cubo, the nearest town to; which is Guanajuato. The unions in a number of cases had taken over the mines and were working them, although there seemed to be a move now by the Government to resist the demands of the unions to some extent, h« said. The position was most serious. "Everything was deeply Communistic in Mexico and the Miners' Union known as the Miners' Syndicate really ruled the roost in all mining concerns. "AWFUL STATE OF AFFAIRS." "Supposing a manager wants to put off a miner, he would have to give him three months' notice and in addition obtain the consent of the syndicato irrespective of the reason for which he was being dispensed with," said Mr. Davidson. "Another thing is that the mining authorities cannot engage men. The syndicato does all that. It is an awful state of affairs. The mines cannot engage men in the vicinity .and have to get them in Guanajuato and pay the cost of transport amounting to 1000 pesos a month, the peso being about a shilling in New Zealand currency. They could really get all the labour required at hand if it was not for the syndicato. ; "Another interesting aspect is that the syndicato is after all the mines. A contract for .labour lasts two years. The miners strike when a new contract is due, and in some cases take over the mine without paying for the machinery. The contracts are outrageous. The firm for which my son works was offered a new contract in December to become operative on February 2 and the increases amounted to 250 per cent. Not all of this represented wages. The workers wanted hospitals here and there and doctors and very much improved conditions, but I heard just before I left Vancouver that a compromise had been reached. STEALERS OF ORE. "The lupios (ore stealers) are one of the greatest problems that the miners have to face, for they have their own union. They go into mines that are closed in batches of from ten to thirty and gather all the best ore into small bags. Now, the law in Mexico is that ore stealing is not a crime, and once the lupios are off the miners' premises with their hauls, they cannot be touched. The lupios and the syndicato are both strong unions. If lupios are found in the mine and the men cannot get them out, they send for the soldiers, and they are taken down to Guanajuato. Their names are taken, and the lupios go scot-free. In one rather flagrant case recently, after the lupios had been set free by the Magistrate, the question arose as to who owned the stolen ore, and the Magistrate ruled in favour of the thieves! One mine is losing 100 dollars a week in this way. I "Since December the Government has come to the aid. of the miners a bit. There was one occasion when 1000 men struck. Their demands were toe big and the mine was taken over by the j miners' union, and they are trying to run it themselves. They started by sacking forty men which the original owners wanted to do but could not j because of the union itself. In an- j other mine the union asked for an increase of 17,000,000 pesos in the new contract, but eventually they compromised for 1,750,000 pesos. The Government seem to be doing their best because they are losing heavily in taxes, but the unions are too strong for them. There has, since Christmas, at any rate, been a change of tactics with the lupios, and the Government is now promising punishment. Some idea of the preposterous demands included in proposals for new contracts can be had from the fact that one clause rejected by the miners was that a watchman should not interfere with the lupios. AMERICAN POLICY. "The mines could not carry on without the good-neighbour policy of the American Government, which has been maintained in spite of the confiscation of property, and they are still helping Mexico. Last December, President Roosevelt gave his word that on January 1 he would state the Government's policy in regard to the buying of silver. On New Year's Day, in his broadcast, the news came that America would continue to buy Mexican silver for six months. The American Government is buying silver that it does not want, and is giving the best price for it, simply to put it into the earth. Nobody knows why this is the case. By virtue of the same policy the American Government is for the next ten years going to make a loan of 2,000,000 pesos annually in order that Mexico may pay for appropriated lands. The Mexicans, on the other hand, are promising gradually to pay off the debt, but nobody knows if that will be done."