Controversial, senator, warlike, mining leader. All adjectives for a single name: Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, Secretary General of the National Union of Miners. An economist by trade, heir to the union leadership through his father Napoleón Gómez Sada, now also Senator from Morena, he can boast of having been the leader of the miners for more than 21 years. However, his leadership was marred by allegations of alleged misappropriation of funds, frontal opposition from large corporations such as Grupo México, and a 12-year self-exile in Canada. And despite all this, Gómez Urrutia continues to lead one of the country’s most important unions, with a pool of 14,000 members.
The 78-year-old union leader’s latest fight erupted this week when mining company Grupo México, the country’s largest copper producer, accused him of being behind the labor lawsuit brought against them by the United States over alleged violations of freedom of speech. union federation. The company, owned by millionaire Germán Larrea, assured that Gómez Urrutia’s accusation was staged in order to create a new political space for itself and thus avoid paying $55 million in compensation that it allegedly owed to its subsidiaries owes.
Gómez Urrutia ignored the inflammatory accusation, preferring to use the time these days to congratulate the recently appointed Labor Minister, Marath Bolaños: “I am confident that he is committed to this new task of solidifying change in the work culture. The being and prosperity of Mexican workers,” he wrote via his Twitter account. A significant gesture considering that a few hours earlier, during his morning conference, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had revealed the bad relationship between former secretary Luisa María Alcalde and the mining boss.
Another controversy surrounding a character that hasn’t gone unnoticed since he took over as head of the Syndicate in 2002. He was born in Monterrey Nuevo León, studied economics at Unam and has studies at Oxford. His political career began in the labor sector of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). In 2002, with the death of his father Napoleón Gómez Sada, he took over the post of general secretary of the mining union, a position he continues to hold with great support from workers.
Gómez Urrutia does not shy away from confrontation, but uses it to his advantage. In 2006, after a Grupo México mine collapsed in Pasta de Conchos, Coahuila, killing 65 miners, the union leader was one of the first to directly blame Larrea for the tragedy. The union leader has been one of the most critical voices against the mining company and its owner over working conditions and alleged negligent practices on environmental issues.
Gómez Urrutia’s career has also garnered its own controversies, accusations, and complaints. In the same year as the Pasta de Conchos tragedy in 2006, he was charged with alleged resource evasion for an alleged $55 million fraud against miners. Following the allegations against him, Gómez Urrutia went into exile in Canada. From there he exercised his union leadership, meeting with other union federations and throwing darts at his critics. After 12 years abroad, he returned to Mexico in 2018 through the mediation of López Obrador, who offered him a seat in the Senate. Upon his return, Gómez Urrutia reiterated in style that he had been the victim of “political persecution” by the Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón PAN governments and by mining entrepreneurs.
From his post in the legislature, the mining leader has not maintained his outspoken opposition to the big mining companies, to the point of promoting the recent reform for the sector, which reduces the prerogatives of concessions and permits for companies of the draft Grupo México, Minera Frisco and Fresnillo. The changes were not in vain considering Mexico is the largest silver producer in the world and one of the largest gold and copper miners. The more than 200 mining companies operating in the country employ more than 300,000 people directly.
Manuel Fuentes, an expert on labor law, acknowledges that the miners’ leader is a controversial character, but warns that his popularity has allowed him to continue the union abroad. Fuentes cites one of the greatest successes of his leadership as having achieved salary increases for his union members above the national average. “The mining union is one of the most active in the struggle for contract ownership, it’s a vibrant and combative union,” he says.
Gómez Urrutia, despite all the complaints and controversy against him, continues to enjoy support from miners for receiving salary benefits and better working conditions for his affiliates. “His personal image has been greatly enhanced over the years and it seems to me that this attribute has contributed to a leadership that has held the union together,” concludes the lawyer.
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