They accuse “coercion and pressure” in the election to renew the oil union

Mexico City. Looking ahead to next Monday’s elections to renew the leadership of the oil union, the opposition candidate Cristina Alonso García and dissidents denounced that there is “coercion and pressure” against the workers to support the current general secretary Ricardo Aldana Prieto, who intends to be reelected for five more years as head of the union.

In an interview, unionized workers – who preferred to reserve their names for fear of reprisals – confirmed that the campaign process, which began on October 15 and concludes today, has been marked by “harassment, harassment and intimidation,” since in the majority Of the 36 sections where the successor of the deceased Carlos Romero Deschamps has proselytized, “the local leaders have warned us ‘if you are with her, you are against the boss’, they also suspended the delivery of scholarships and cash loans. saving”.

Last October 10 The Day reported that during the registration of Aldana Prieto as a candidate for the Green ticket, several of the 36 local leaders closed ranks and went to the headquarters of the Petroleum Workers Union of the Mexican Republic (STPRM) to give their support.

The workers accused that the national leadership used the sectional secretaries to campaign in each of these, “they bring people together, hold assemblies and there they tell them who to vote for.” On the other hand, the candidates on the Guinda slate are “denied access to the work centers,” as happened in the Tula refinery, Alonso García accused, reiterating that “there is no level playing field” in the process to renew the Executive Committee. General for the period 2025-2030.

The worker from section 44 in Villahermosa, Tabasco, who this Saturday is closing her campaign in Mexico City, pointed out that among the irregularities, the National Electoral Commission of the STPRM “has excluded 30,000 workers from the registry for the elections. They were based through the “Job Stability Program” of the federal government. According to data from the labor authority, there are 91,193 workers with the right to vote.

“In different parts, especially at the Olmeca Dos Bocas refinery, where a large group of workers came from who signed that pact, to this day it does not appear in any register, even though they are contributing their union dues,” he noted.

A group of unionized workers pointed out that in Poza Rica, Veracruz, personnel related to Aldana “surveiled us and took photos of those of us who sympathized” with the candidate of the Planilla Guinda, who made an alliance with the leaders Esbayde Villaverde and Fred Navarro.

Separately, Juan Martín Morales, an applicant for the Fuerza Oro Negro payroll who was denied registration “due to inconsistencies,” accused that the “harassment of workers” has been in all sections. “You have to go to the assembly, otherwise they don’t give them loans, they film them, they draw up lists, they condition our vote through our own benefits.”

In a conference, he stressed that within the STPRM “historically, oil workers have always experienced this type of process in a very opaque way,” which is why he announced that he will challenge the process.