Some 1,200 members of Mexico's National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union, or Los Mineros, have been on strike since July 2007 at the Cananea mine over health and safety and other contract violations.

Grupo Mexico, the mining giant which operates Cananea, and the Mexican government have continuously tried to end the strike and crush the union.

They have threatened and jailed union leaders, illegally frozen union bank accounts and failed to investigate or prosecute assassinations of union members.

On February 11th, a federal court gave Grupo Mexico permission to fire the striking workers and terminate the labor agreement. The government has threatened to use armed force to gain control of Cananea.

The Los Mineros members at Cananea are resolved to continue occupying the mine until a fair labour agreement is reached. Los Mineros is one of the strongest and most democratic trade unions in Mexico.

Take a moment to send off your letter of protest today from the LabourStart website today by going HERE.

2010 looks to be a big conference year.  LabourStart in July in Hamilton Ontario, Canada, LabourTech in Windsor Ontario, Canada 13-15 May.

The organizing committee has decided to link Labourtech to the annual conference of the Canadian Association of Labour Media to expand our networks and benefit from the workshops offered at both conferences.

    * Conference Schedule <a href="http://www.labourtech.ca/tiki-index.php?page=2010ConferenceSchedule">HERE</a>
    * Deadlines:
          o Conference registration:April 23
          o Hotel rooms:April 14
          o Residence rooms: April 30
    * Cost: $195 or $100 for individuals not funded by an organization or union

To register online go <a href="http://www.labourtech.ca/tiki-index.php?page=2010RegistrationForm">HERE</a>.

A new weekly presentation of international labour news is now on the Internet.

The audiocast - called Solidarity News - started on Monday, February 1. The audiocast will remain on the RadioLabour site throughout its current week. New audiocasts will be posted every Monday morning.

RadioLabour is on the Internet at www.radiolabour.org.  It is also on Facebook, please join the RadioLabour page.

RadioLabour is the brainchild of Marc Belanger -- the founder of SoliNet, which was the first trade union online network back in the 1980s.

Solidarity News will focus on union and workers' activities and issues from around the world with special emphasis on emerging market and developing countries.

RadioLabour reporters will provide regular weekly presentations, but a special feature of the audiocast will be reports from unionists who want to report on particular events or publicize an activity of their organization.

Scripts of the audiocasts will be available as aids for unionists who want to learn the use of English as an additional language in the international labour movement.

For more information about RadioLabour, listen to the audiocasts, or provide reports, visit the RadioLabour site.  Or write directly to Marc at m.belanger@radiolabour.org

61 building service workers at the Toronto Dominion Centre in Toronto were locked-out and then fired by their employer when they refused to agree to the gutting of their collective agreement. They were forced to celebrate Christmas on a picket line almost 6 months after being forced off the job. Their union, CEP, is asking you to send a message to Cadillac Fairview, the company that manages the TD Centre. Tell CF that enough is enough! A copy of your message will go to the workers on the picket lines.

30 seconds is all it takes: go HERE to send a message to Caddillac Fairview.

We were expecting some pre-registrations for sure, but in the event the response to a very limited call-out has been overwhelming. Thanks to all who have responded, you're helping us with conference logistics, as well as the agenda.

As of today 382 people from 64 countries have pre-registered.

We know not all who have expressed an interest will be able to come, but it is encouraging to know so many would at least like to.

If you have not yet pre-registered and would like to, go HERE

If you think you might be able to attend the LabourStart conference on 9-11 July 2010 at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, please pre-register. This does not obligate you -- it just gives us a sense of who is interested in attending.

Thanks.

Pre-register HERE.

A group of international union activists is getting together to start a labour audio show on the Internet. The show, which will be  hosted by labour educator Marc Belanger, will feature news about union activities around the globe. The 20 minute audiocast, called Solidarity News, will be presented on www.radiolabour.net every Monday.  

RadioLabour is currently looking for volunteer reporters to provide one or two minute English-language audio reports about union activities in their region of the world. The reporters would be expected to provide their audio-report (as an MP3 file) and a written script of the report.   To volunteer, or find out more about the project, email Marc at:  m.belanger@radiolabour.org

The latest edition of Radio Netherlands' "The State We're In" asks if forming a union is a human right. Available as a pod off iTunes. Always an interesting show and the only such in English I know of with a human rights theme.

The show's web page is HERE.

Welcome to Monday (unless you’re checking in on the weekend, in which case sorry for even mentioning Monday!).

Mining multinational giant Vale is taking on its workers around the world. Concessions are all that’s on offer. That’s the bad news. The good? The workers are fighting back. Globally.

3,500 Steelworkers are in month four of their strike against Vale in Canada. Brazilian Vale workers are taking Canadian union members to their bargaining table, saying if Vale won’t talk to them in Canada, they can in Brazil. Unions in places as far-flung as New Caledonia are telling Vale they won’t talk while the Canadians are out.

German workers are demanding that their employers refuse delivery of Vale products. Swedish unions are using their seats on company boards to push for industrial bans on Vale goods. Indonesian unions are bringing Canadian workers into remote mine sites to speak to their members about their common employer’s tactics.

Join them. USW, the Union representing the Canadian workers, and LabourStart, the international labour news and campaigns website, are running a global e-mail campaign against Vale, in support of the strikers and their communities around the world.

In less than 30 seconds you can become part of something really big. And you can make it bigger. One e-mail at a time.

Join the campaign and tell every contact, friend and relative you have.

CLICK HERE.