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On Friday, dozens of employees of Mexico’s state news agency Notimex launched a strike as the union battled deep spending cuts by the outlet’s director, a close ally of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador .
Striking workers blocked access to Notimex offices shortly after midnight and were not allowing employees to enter, but the agency’s journalists were still working remotely, according to the head of the SutNotimex union Adriana Urrea .
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The agency has likewise stated on its official website that despite the former workers affiliated to SutNotimex are blocking the access to the offices, the production of editorial contents is working to its full capacity.
The conflict follows months of discord fanned by the firing of dozens of Notimex staff , who denounced the decision and have criticized the head of the agency, Sanjuana Martínez , who was tapped a year ago by López Obrador.
During his first full year in office, López Obrador has pushed broad austerity cuts across the government while committing to avoid tax hikes or taking on new debt as the economy has sputtered.
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In a post on its Twitter account early on Friday , Notimex refused to recognize the strike, arguing that a notary did not formally certify it.
Urrea, however, said the work stoppage was in compliance with all applicable laws, and she criticized Notimex management for failing to provide promised benefits to some employees while seeking to pressure workers to accept contract changes.
“It’s important to re-establish a dialogue between the company and the union, which is what broke down last year due to the arrival of (Martínez),” said Urrea, an ex-Notimex journalist who was fired last year.
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Urrea said 241 Notimex workers have been fired since Martínez took over, an action the union is seeking to reverse.
For its part, Notimex said the promised benefits were real but that they have not been granted because the workers had asked for the reinstallation of dismissed workers of which 80% had already received severance pay .
The strike marks only the second time Notimex employees have walked out in the outlet’s 51-year history . The former employees announced they would begin the strike on the first minute of February 21 since, according to them, Sanjuana Martínez has been closed to dialogue and reach an agreement on the Collective Work Contract .
mp
