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Title details for Collapse of Dignity by Napoleon Gomez - Available

Collapse of Dignity

The Story of a Mining Tragedy and the Fight Against Greed and Corruption in Mexico

by Napoleon Gomez
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#4 Book on The New York Times Monthly Business Bestseller List
#9 Book on The New York Times Monthly Political Bestseller List
#9 Book on The New York Times Weekly Nonfiction Bestseller List
USA Today Bestseller
In the early morning hours of February 19, 2006, a sudden blast shook a coal mine in northern Mexico, trapping sixty-five workers in a subterranean tunnel. Napoleón Gómez, head of the fiercely independent union that represented the workers, was appalled by what he found at the scene: labor department inspectors and the company operating the mine had ignored the egregiously hazardous state of the work site and were failing miserably at a rescue effort. Rather than focusing on saving lives, they were busy downplaying the company's role in the collapse and selling false hope to the families camped out at the mouth of the mine. Less than a week after the explosion, Mexico's labor secretary called off the rescue, leaving the lost men to their fates.
The senseless tragedy—stemming directly from an insatiable hunger for profits—set off a massive confrontation between the National Miners' Union and the transnational corporations that wield great power in the country's government. Over seven tumultuous years, Gómez waged a battle against Mexico's corrupt politicians and voraciously greedy businessmen, insisting that the mine blast was an "industrial homicide" and that those responsible must be held accountable for it.
Told with candor and passion, Collapse of Dignity is Gómez's account of the union's fight, mounted in the face of traitors, armed aggression, death threats, and a political alliance extending all the way up to the presidential residence at Los Pinos. As he fends off absurdly complex legal charges, organizes the resistance from exile in Canada, and uncovers an anti-union conspiracy stretching back to years before the explosion, he only becomes more committed to fighting for the rights of Los Mineros—and by extension the workers of every country.
Gómez's story is one of outrage, but also one of hope. Though Collapse of Dignity lays bare sickening injustice and inexcusable aggression against the Mexican working class, it is at its core a fervent call for a global workers' movement that will represent the fundamental rights of every person who works for a living.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    April 16, 2013

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781939529268

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781939529268
      • File size: 2522 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 22, 2013
      Gomez, a prominent Mexican union leader, proponent of workers' rights, and winner of the 2011 International Meany-Kirkland Human Rights Award, offers up his side of a complicated, dramatic tale stretching back nearly a decade. In 2006, a mine explosion in northern Mexico trapped 65 people. Rescue operations were suspended after only five days, apparently due to corrupt officials wishing to bury evidence of unsafe working conditions. While not the origin of the conflict between mine owners, a hostile government, and the beleaguered Los Mineros union, it was the catalyst for years of legal battles and more, including a prolonged strike at other mines. With Gomez and his fellow union leaders persecuted, exiled, or arrested, it became a highly visible symbol of workers' rights and government corruption. Gomez's story is part autobiography, part manifesto, as he thoroughly examines the events contributing to the ongoing trouble. While understandably biased from his point of view, it's a damning account of how misused power can cost lives and wreak havoc. Open, honest, and eloquent, Gomez passionately calls for reform and a better world as he condemns the officials and businessmen who exploit the workers.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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