Movimiento Ferrocarrilero
Movimiento Ferrocarrilero
In February 1958 Mexico's Railroad Workers' Union (Sindicato de Trabajadores Ferrocarrileros, or STF) demanded a salary hike, which was resisted by trade union leaders, business owners, and the government. On June 26, the workers began a strike that led to an agreement with President Adolfo Ruiz Cortinez. Because the STF executive committee (Comité Ejecutivo General, or CEG) was led by trade unionists who had been coopted by management, another mobilization, on July 2, attempted to democratize the union; one of its achievements was the election of Demetrio Vallejo as president of the CEG. The union's collective contracts were subsequently revised, and when workers' demands remained unresolved, another strike was called in March 1959. This time the movement was harshly repressed, with thousands of workers fired and their leaders thrown into jail.
See alsoCampa Salazar, Valentín; Mexico, Organizations: Federation of Mexican Labor (CTM); Mexico, Political Parties: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI); Mexico, Political Parties: Partido Comunista Mexicano; Movimiento de Maestros 1958.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barrios, Elías. El escuadrón de hierro. México: Cultura Popular, 1978.
Campa, Valentín. Mi testimonio. Experiencias de un comunista mexicano. México: Cultura Popular, 1978.
Vallejo, Demetrio. Las luchas ferrocarrileras que conmovieron a México. Orígenes hechos y verdades históricas. México: Editorial del Movimiento de Liberación Nacional, 1967.
Enrique Esqueda