Despite armed attacks, police collusion & an unsympathetic state (to say the least), the strike at Tornel continues as over a thousand workers square off against an exploitative, aggressive transnational.

This editorial by Santiago I. Flores originally appeared in the May 6, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

The more than one thousand workers of the Tornel tire factory have been on strike since February 23rd due to a violation of the Rubber Industry Collective Bargaining Agreement by the Indian company JK Tyre & Industries. The company’s history dates back to the 20th century and it remained Mexican-owned until 2008, when JK bought it.

It didn’t take long for the CTM’s charros to try to control the union leadership as they had done since the 1970s.

In all five plants, the workers of the National Union resisted, rejecting the corrupt officials, remaining united, and reaching out to other rubber workers’ unions.

The balance of the class struggle has favored the workers all these years. JK Tyre violates the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Response: they resort to various labour courts; finally, a strike. On March 18, nearly 100 strikebreakers attacked the workers guarding the Tultitlán plant, wounding four of them with firearms. Six municipal patrol cars stood by, unmoved by the attack. In front of Tornel’s main gate, there are eight security cameras filming, along with panic buttons to coordinate municipal and state police, firefighters, and emergency services. The strikers identified Víctor Zamora Serrano, one of the 26 employees of the company, as the strikebreakers’ leader.

Thinking the attack had frightened them, the employers requested an early vote to decide whether or not to end the strike. The Ajusco Conciliation and Arbitration Board confirmed that 883 wanted to continue and only 113 voted to end it.

On April 19, Alejandra Reyes, from La Jornada del Estado de México, reported the opinions of the workers and the course of the negotiations that, according to the negotiating worker, were about to be resolved that same week.

Alejandra Reyes herself, on Saturday, May 2nd, titled her report “Tornel Workers Request Presidential Support to Resolve Strike.” A few lines later she writes: “Marco Antonio Ramírez Martínez, a member of the Honor and Justice Commission and representative of the Tultitlán plant, recounted that on May 1st they went to the esplanade of the National Palace to make their situation visible and request direct support from the federal government.” According to what the representative told the reporter, on Thursday, April 30th, Indian management agreed to meet the workers’ demands; once again, the class struggle favored them, although when it came to the workers at the Azcapotzalco plant, they refused to give them anything. The class struggle crystallized into unity and solidarity. They said, “Equal treatment for all.” Tornel remains on strike as I write this.

This strike, which has lasted so many days, has been reported not only in La Jornada, but also in various other sources, with varying degrees of detail. However, this year, both globally and locally, is an annus terribilis for the working class; perhaps, though inaccurately, it’s an infernalis.

Disinformation, distraction, corruption, and criminal cynicism are inherent to the capitalist system, which one must resist in order to survive. Although the capitalist is legally authorized to keep surplus value, this is not enough; they are inclined to break the law. Here we see a breach of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which also applies to Bridgestone, Goodyear, Continental, Pirelli, Hankook, Cooper Tyre, Hule Galgo, Hules Banda, and Michelin. This writer has been interested since the early 1970s in the struggles of independent unionism in small and medium-sized businesses. Different struggles, though similar in some ways. I learned of this strike through a document from the Committee for the Dissemination of Solidarity with Popular Struggles, whom I [previously] did not know. This document is a silent cry for information about this strike by the Tornel workers; between the lines of the data, there is a stubborn clamor for justice. They rightly point out that when the company changed ownership (2008), there were 1,350 workers producing 9,000 tires daily; now there are 1,051 workers producing 20,000 tires. However, the productivity bonus for the Maintenance Department was eliminated. The agreed-upon payment of 56 pesos for 40 hours per week is not being honored. Those who work on Sundays are paid a small premium instead of overtime, meaning they receive double pay.

Vacation pay is not being paid. The two mandatory days off are not being respected. The agreed-upon 44-day Christmas bonus is also not being paid. Another breached agreement concerns the salary increases for 2025 and 2026. According to the contract, the savings fund should be 13 percent of salary; however, only 12.5 percent is being contributed. The company does not contribute to the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) nor does it provide severance pay for voluntary retirement.

JK Tyre is known internationally. In Mexico, it has learned and applied all the dirtiest methods of exploitation and gotten away with it. JK Tyre has many allies, and the capital backing them is immense.

How to know which way the scales of the eternal class struggle will tip?

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