The miners’ union’s fifth USMCA rapid-response case forces Newmont into a neutrality letter and a binational remediation plan after three leaders were fired.

This article by Jared Laureles and Jessica Xantomila originally appeared in the August 6, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left-wing daily newspaper.

Mexico City. Mexico’s Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) confirmed that the US company Newmont violated the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining at the Peñasquito gold mine, located in Zacatecas, after concluding the investigations opened over the firing of three local leaders of the National Mining Union, headed by Napoleón Gómez Urrutia.

The agency reported that, following the activation of the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism this past June, it determined that one of the workers was fired while running as a candidate for the General Secretariat of the union local, after being held responsible for the breakdown of a piece of equipment.

The inquiry also established that, despite his dismissal, the worker was subsequently named by the union as a special delegate and commissioner to take part in the review of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which confirmed his role as a union representative at the time of the termination.

Regarding the second worker, the labor authority noted that the company justified his dismissal on the alleged removal of work materials. However, the investigation found that, at the time of the termination, he held no position within the union committee nor was he part of any commission.

In the third case, the STPS indicated that he was fired following an accusation of alleged sexual harassment, when he was a member of the Review Commission for the 2024 CBA. Even after his separation from employment, he continued to take part in that commission in the position assigned to him by the National Mining Union.

As part of the procedure, which unfolded over 45 days under the direct supervision of the STPS, the US company Newmont committed to strengthening the guarantees for the exercise of union freedom by publishing a Letter of Neutrality, creating a confidential mechanism for reporting labor violations, and training all of its personnel on collective rights, union democracy, and collective bargaining.

The STPS also reported that it will coordinate dialogue tables between Peñasquito and the National Mining Union to seek an agreement on the cases of the first and second dismissed workers.

The measures adopted by the company will form part of a Remediation Plan agreed between the governments of Mexico and the United States.

The Peñasquito case represents the fifth complaint brought by the National Mining Union under the USMCA labor mechanism. Previously, the union filed actions over the San Martín mine, in Sombrerete, Zacatecas; Tizapa, owned by Industrias Peñoles, in the State of Mexico; Teksid Hierro, in Coahuila; and Camino Rojo, in Mazapil, Zacatecas—the last of these resolved through an international panel that ruled in the union’s favor.

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