Labor feud hits historic Mexican copper mine again

CANANEA, Mexico, Aug 22 (Reuters) The historic Cananea copper mine, where a violent strike a century ago gave birth to Mexico's labor movement and helped launch a revolution, is again at the center of a major industrial conflict.

More than 1,000 men walked off the job three weeks ago in a union fight with pit owner Grupo Mexico that also led to street battles and killed a worker at a nearby mine.

Miners and Grupo Mexico are to meet on Friday for the latest round of talks on resolving the strike, ostensibly about safety and contracts at a mine with one of the world's largest copper reserves.

But bad feeling is running high as workers accuse the company of trying to destroy the union.

''They want to crush us like flies,'' strike leader Jesus Verdugo said in Cananea town, which is framed by the mine's towering red slag heaps. ''We cannot stand down now.'' Cananea, nestled in high desert mountains close to the Arizona border, was the scene of a bloody clash over pay and conditions in 1906 that ended with 19 miners shot dead by men brought in to support the mine's American owner at the time.

The battle inspired a new generation of Mexican labor activists and is often cited as the opening parry for the revolution that began in 1910 and led to the modern Mexican state.

In recent years, Cananea has been wracked by almost annual strikes, many linked to a feud among powerful union leader Napoleon Gomez, Grupo Mexico and the government.

The conflict has also touched Cananea's smaller sister mine La Caridad, which is not on strike.

MINER DEATH Pro-union worker Reynaldo Hernandez died at La Caridad earlier this month when hundreds of miners fought former workers at the pit with poles, rocks and, some say, guns, as some of the fired men tried to enter the mine and were turned back by a large group of workers.

The strike in Cananea has stopped production and put strong upward pressure on already high global copper prices before world markets were hit by credit worries.

The potential for clashes at the mine has risen because a court order last week gives Grupo Mexico the right to break the picket line.

''We have the right to ask the police to back us in restarting the mine,'' Grupo Mexico lawyer Salvador Rocha said.

The union has vowed not to let anyone into the mine until the strike is resolved.

Cananea's miners earn on average 15 dollars a day before benefits.

But riding the crest of a copper boom driven by demand in China, Grupo Mexico this year paid each worker close to 30,000 as a share of its 1.5 billion dollars 2006 profits.

Still, miners say working at Cananea is dangerous and are demanding pay hikes as their contract expires on August 27.

Grupo Mexico would like to be rid of Gomez, who has led numerous strikes. The company and some workers accuse him of misusing 55 million dollars paid to the union after Cananea was privatized, which he denies.

Gomez now runs the union from Canada, where he has lived since last year to avoid arrest warrants against him. The government says the leader is using the strike to pressure for corruption charges against him to be dropped.

REUTERS CS BST0032