Miners' strike stirs dialogue
Students, community discuss unions, human rights issues
By: Ian Cross
Issue date: 9/17/07 Section: News
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benefit discussion Friday highlighting the strife of Mexico's copper mine workers who are on a 45-day strike.
UA students and members of Coalición de Derechos Humanos want to help the miners of Cananea Local 65 with their demands, bring attention to international and local unions and perhaps impact global policy, said Helain Day, a Latin American studies and community health education junior.
The coalition is a human rights association that fights discrimination and helps people who are being abused by law enforcement, businesses or individuals, Day said.
Respect for union autonomy, compliance with previous law and environmental and safety measures are among some of the issues the miners demand.
"I really wanted to do something with immigration and changing policy," said Zelida Hernandez, a Latin American studies senior. "I really wanted to get involved in policy changes for that, because we really do have a strong political voice.
"I'm actually from a border town, Nogales," Hernandez said, "so I know what it's like to see militarization and discrimination."
Eric Pavri, a second-year law student who helped organize the event, said he wants to get involved with immigration and labor law when he graduates.
"Last year a few students of the law school started volunteering at Derechos Humanos at a legal clinic," he said. "We help people with all kinds of problems when they get abused at their workplace, by their landlords or sometimes when there's abuse by law enforcement officials, particularly federal, customs and border patrol."
At the event, the mineworkers showed a video of the working conditions in their copper mine in Cananea, a principal mining and metallurgical town 25 miles south of the Arizona-Mexico border.
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