One of the largest and most important independent unions in Mexico, the Mexican electricians union, Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas (SME), is fighting for its life and may have just won a small battle.  On October 31^,2009, a federal judge temporarily suspended the dissolution of the central Mexico utility Luz y Fuerza del Centro (LyFC) as ordered by the Calderón administration. 

On October 25, 2009, Guatemalan trade union leader Víctor Gálvez was gunned down as he was leaving work.  Gálvez was a community leader and a member of the natural resources protection and resistance front, FRENA, affiliated to the national front for the defense of public services and natural resources, FNL, which is part of the Guatemalan labor, indigenous and campesino movement, Movimiento Sindical Indígena y Campesino Guatemalteco (MSICG). 

In the face of violent repression of supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, Honduran trade unionists have joined other opponents of the June 28 coup calling for international support to ward off further violence.   The situation in Honduras is rapidly deteriorating, with reports of coup resistors putting up barricades in barrios across the country, the shooting of a trade union

USLEAP joined labor, environmental, human rights, development and faith-based organizations in submitting written comments to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in response to a formal request to the public for opinions  on labor-related issues in the context of the pending Free Trade Agreement with Colombia.  In their comments, these groups outlined the specific human righ