Strikers shut Mittal steel plant, Mexico's biggest

Mexico City, Mar 2: Workers at Mittal's giant Lazaro Cardenas steel plant in Mexico have joined a nationwide strike in support of an embattled union leader, an employee told sources on Wednesday (Mar 1, 2006).

"There is a strike by union workers. The administrative workers have not entered the plant and nobody is here other than emergency staff," said a source at the mill complex, in Mexico's Michoacan state.

Mittal's Lazaro Cardenas plant is the largest in Mexico and produces about 4 million tonnes of steel per year.

Other steel plants were also closed by the strike, which spread through all of Mexico's major mine and metals operations on Wednesday.

Workers walked off the job in support of union boss Napoleon Gomez, who is facing a leadership challenge.

REUTERS