Mexico, Food Fight Goes National

[Joanne98]

Mexico, Food Fight Goes National

Mexico, Jan 23 (Prensa Latina) For the first time in recent history, two large Mexican unions are jointly convoking a national demand price control of 34 basic products and a salary hike.

Union Nacional de Trabajadores and Frente Sindical Mexicano, that group 116 unions, will march January 31 demanding to meet with President Felipe Calderon and threatening a series of strikes.

Union leaders have added their voices to other protestors in Mexico, chiefly over the high price of the staple tortilla, which is getting out of reach of most families.

PRD Sen. Ricardo Monreal (Democratic Revolution party) exposed a pact to fix prices on this food and said his party will demand that congress investigate denunciations of corn speculators.

Monreal said the PRD also proposed an emergency salary because in the first 50 days of the Calderon government, the workers have lost 30 percent of their purchasing power.
http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID={C148C7C6-1419-48C3-9574-3C6FC1470D52}&language=EN

[DaveJ]

1. And why is the food price going up?

I seriously doubt they are paying the workers more.

[Joanne98]

2. I think it has something to do with the Us ethanol program..

NAFTA put most of the small corn farmers out of business so mexicans got dependent on the US for corn. But more US corn got deverted into the ethanol program which caused a shortage...That's what I've heard anyway. I'm not positive.

[Big Kahuna]

3. The price of corn products is skyrocketing

because of corn crops being diverted to produce ethanol :mad:

[Acadia Blue]

4. Is It? In Mexico? I think its NAFTA causing the problem.