Canadian Mining and Labor Struggles in Mexico: The Challenges of Union Organizing

Abstract

Focusing on a case study of a union organizing effort at the La Platosa mine from 2009 to 2012, this article studies the challenges facing labor activism in Canadian mining companies in Mexico within the context of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The relative strengths and weaknesses exhibited during labor organizing at the La Platosa mine are evaluated to find both locally specific and more broadly applicable strategies that could be applied to union renewal, both by workers employed under NAFTA's transnational sector and by the general labor movement.