Quebec Labour Group CISO Denounces Shooting of Striking Tornel Workers

The Quebec, Canada based labour solidarity organization Centre International De Solidarité Ouvrière tonight denounced the March 18th attack on striking workers in Mexico state, where a shock group of over 60 men, carrying weapons including fire-arms, stormed the picketline at the Tornel Rubber plant in Tultitlán, where workers had been on strike since February 23. Four workers were shot, and many more injured, in the attack on the picketline.

Centre International De Solidarité Ouvrière has organized worker-to-worker solidarity between Mexican and Quebecois workers since the 1970s, and representatives were in Mexico only last month on a Canadian labour union trip to meet with various Mexican unions and organizers in the context of upcoming USMCA negotiations.

CISO’s Statement

In the face of the serious attack carried out on Wednesday, March 18, against the striking workers of the tire manufacturing company Tornel in Mexico, where there were injuries, including four people with bullet injuries, we show our full support for the strike carried out by Tornel. these comrades for respecting their collective convention.

In order to effectively solve their legitimate demands, the CISO expresses its solidarity with the brave strikers and demands:
▪ Respect their right to strike.
▪ Security guarantees for more than a thousand workers and strike workers.
▪ The company and its representatives must be obliged to comply with Mexican laws.
▪ A thorough investigation that leaves no information aside.
▪ Sanctions against those responsible.