Strengthening Tornel Workers’ Strike Fund, Promoting Work Stoppages & Coordinating Solidarity are Urgent Tasks

ByMovimiento de las y los Trabajadores Socialistas

This article by Movimiento de las y los Trabajadores Socialistas originally appeared in the March 30, 2026 edition of La Izquiera Diario.

Within the framework of the political-cultural festival in solidarity with the Tornel strike , held outside plant 4 in Tultitlán, State of Mexico, this Sunday, March 29, different voices were heard that coincided in the same perspective: the need to transform solidarity into an effective tool to sustain the struggle.

During his speech, Javier Castellanos, representing the Socialist Workers’ Movement, clearly outlined one of the key issues of the moment: strengthening the strike fund as an urgent task for the entire organized labor movement. The strike fund emerges as a central political tool for workers to sustain actions such as strikes in the face of employers’ offensives.

Strengthening the strike fund to resist the employers for one more day

In the case of Tornel, where the company is betting on attrition and breaking resistance through the passage of time and the sending of gangster-like attacks , the material support of working families becomes a decisive element.

In their vigils and solidarity actions, the workers themselves have raised a clear slogan: they must resist the employers for one more day. For this to be possible, willpower alone is not enough: it is necessary to guarantee the material conditions to sustain the strike. Therefore, the strike fund is not an add-on, but a central condition for the strike to succeed.

It is no coincidence that many struggles face this limitation: the weight of daily life, in a context of precarity, acts as a constant pressure on those who exercise their right to strike. Therefore, the call is not only for individual solidarity, but also for unions, labor federations, and workers’ organizations to take charge of building and strengthening strike funds, as part of a conscious policy to confront both employers and the material conditions that seek to discipline the struggle.

But this solidarity must go beyond financial contributions. For the strike to succeed, it must also be expressed in concrete actions: promoting mobilizations, solidarity strikes, and strengthening the guards at the plant gates, surrounding the strikers with active support against any attempt at repression or attrition.

Coordinate solidarity to strike harder

This perspective also revisits ongoing discussions within various sectors of the labour movement, where the need to move from formal pronouncements to concrete actions of support has been highlighted. These actions would unify the ongoing struggles, such as those in Tornel and other sectors experiencing conflict. The statement “Stop the Repression in Tornel! ”, signed by labor, political, and social organizations, called for broad solidarity with the workers, denouncing the violent attacks and demanding guarantees for the exercise of the right to strike.

The impact has extended beyond Mexico’s borders, with statements of solidarity from Brazil, Spain, France, and Argentina, where even members of parliament such as Myriam Bregman, Argentine National Deputy; Nicolás del Caño, Argentine National Deputy; Alejandro Vilca, Provincial Deputy of Jujuy Province for the PTS; Christian Castillo, Provincial Deputy of Buenos Aires Province for the PTS; Andrea D’Atri, Buenos Aires City Legislator for the PTS; and even Elsa Marcel, councilwoman for Saint Denis, Paris, have spoken out in support of the Tornel strike’s victory.

In this regard, another key theme of this Festival was the promotion of a large coordinating committee in solidarity with Tornel. This committee, as a way to strengthen its organization, should be coordinated and led by the striking workers. It would be a body that would bring together labor, political, student, and social organizations, centralizing efforts, organizing joint actions, and amplifying the reach of active solidarity.

This coordination of solidarity actions with the Tornel strike can start from the initiative of the organizations and unions that have already spoken out in support of the strikers, such as the New Workers’ Central, the National Coordinating Committee of Education Workers and the National Union of Workers to which the Tornel National Union of Rubber Industry Workers belongs, and of course the Coalition of Rubber Industry Unions that brings together, for example, the unions of Bridgestone, Continental, General Tire and Goodyear.

A first concrete action of this coordination should be the active accompaniment of the negotiation on April 1st at the Federal Board, surrounding the workers with the strength of mobilization and making them feel that they are not alone in the face of the employers and the authorities.

At the same time, this instance could be a first step to extend solidarity to other ongoing struggles, such as those of the National Pawnshop Union – which is about to complete six months of strike demanding an end to violations of its Collective Bargaining Agreement – strengthening a perspective of unity among workers’ struggles.

Faced with employers and the complicity of labor authorities, unity and grassroots organizing are seen as the only way to force the hand of those who seek to impose attrition as a strategy.

The Tornel strike is not an isolated conflict. It is part of a broader struggle against precarious work and for decent living conditions. Therefore, strengthening the strike fund, promoting actions such as work stoppages and mobilizations, and advancing solidarity coordination is not just an immediate task: it is a commitment for the entire working class in our country.