The Autonomous Confederation of Workers and Employees of Mexico (CATEM) is demanding a monthly payment of $5,000 per dump truck from the Federation of Workers of Yucatán (FTY), a CTM affiliate, to work on the construction of the Poxilá-Progreso section of the Maya Train.
The members of the CTEM (Mexican Workers’ Federation) rejected the proposed fee and the lucrative intermediation of CATEM (Mexican Workers’ Federation). They asked Governor Joaquín Díaz Mena and President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo for support in working directly with the company, the Mexican Army, or the agency carrying out the Poxilá-Progreso railway branch.
CATEM, a national union affiliated with the Morena party, argues that it holds the labor contract for the construction of the Poxilá-Progreso section and therefore charges a commission to other unions that want to participate in the project.
The secretary general of the national Catem party, Pedro Haces Barba, is a federal deputy for Morena; President Sheinbaum and Governor Díaz Mena are from the same party, and the state leader of Catem is the current Morena councilor of the Mérida City Council, José Manuel Peniche Marenco. Therefore, Carlos Herrera Chalé, undersecretary of the FTY and known in union circles as Calín, believes there is favoritism toward the Morena-backed union.
Calín revealed that Catem claims to hold the contracts for the expansion of the Progreso Deep-Sea Port and the construction of Mérida’s second ring road, multi-million dollar projects that President Sheinbaum’s administration will carry out in Yucatán.
Officials of the Construction Materials Transporters Union and the general secretary of the Yucatán Workers Federation (CTM), Luis Briceño Contreras, discussed the conditions imposed by Catem (Catem) for their participation in the construction of the Poxilá-Progreso branch line. They announced that they will bring dump trucks during the groundbreaking ceremony for the project, which President Sheinbaum Pardo will hold on April 1st, and they will request Catem’s intervention to allow them to work directly with the contractor and without Catem’s intermediary role in its alleged monthly commission.
William Ancona Chuc, leader of the CTM dump truck drivers, reported that Catem Yucatán invited them to work on the construction of the Poxilá-Progreso branch line and set the conditions for their participation at that meeting.
“Peniche Marenco told us we had to pay for the job. Initially, he asked us to choose whether we wanted to pay 4% or 5,000 pesos per truck per month,” he explained.
The CTM leader specified that a meeting between Catem and Governor Díaz Mena occurred at the Government Palace, where Catem announced a “union coalition”. However, the CTM leaders were not invited; only the Catem leadership attended. This could be interpreted as collusion by the highest levels of the state government in this corruption case.
TYT Newsroom
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