Photo: On June 10, 2025, Canadian trade unionists rallied outside the offices of Vancouver mining corporation Orla Mining, owner of the Camino Rojo mine.
La Jornada reports: “The Camino Rojo mining company, located in Zacatecas, used organized crime to threaten its workers, members of section 335 of the National Mining Union [Sindicato Nacional Minero], and violate their labour rights, in addition to seeking to get them to defect from this union, warns the investigation of the panel of the Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) of the USMCA [United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement], which determined that the company is ‘directly responsible for employer interference’ in union activities.”
The article adds: “According to the preliminary resolution, the expert panelists documented evidence of acts of violence and death threats, in union assemblies and at their homes, against the workers of the union organization led by Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, holder of the collective bargaining agreement, to force them to join a ‘protection’ union of the National Federation of Independent Unions.”
ContraRéplica further reports: “The panel documented that the company had hired a drug trafficker to disrupt union meetings with armed individuals, issue death threats, and pressure employees to leave their organization and join a union affiliated with the company. [These and other actions] directly affected the exercise of freedom of association and collective bargaining.”
That article highlights: “The panel concluded that the company is directly responsible for these actions, in addition to pointing out that the Canadian parent company maintained a passive stance in the face of the complaints, without investigating or acting on labor violations.”
And it notes: “Specialists from the mining union indicated that the case sets a relevant precedent by recognizing that violence and threats can constitute a denial of labor rights, which could influence future controversies within the USMCA.”
In November 2024, the Toronto, Canada-based United Steelworkers union (USW) stated it had “filed a complaint under the Canada United States Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) on behalf of workers at a Canadian-owned mine in Mexico who have faced assaults and death threats after they joined an independent union. This complaint calls for an independent panel to investigate and address violations of workers’ rights at the Camino Rojo gold and silver mine in Zacatecas, Mexico, which is owned by Vancouver-based Orla Mining Ltd. The complaint, filed under CUSMA’s Rapid Response Labour Mechanism (RRM), cites the continuous and systematic denial of the workers’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining.”
We continue to follow this.
Further reading: PBI-Canada seeks strengthened protection for human rights defenders who advocate for labour rights, the right of association (March 12, 2026).
