Transporters request an audience with Torreón authorities; they complain about CATEM.

More than 20 transportation leaders, including those from passenger transportation, school transportation, taxis, water transportation, and construction materials transportation, gathered at a Torreón restaurant to demand an audience with the Municipal Transportation Directorate regarding a long-standing issue with the Autonomous Confederation of Workers and Employees of Mexico (CATEM).

"We publicly request, as we are doing, our right to a hearing from the municipal authorities. We have requested this on several occasions, by phone and text message, and by visiting the Municipal Transportation Department office itself, but we have not received any response. We also asked the president of the Aldermen's Commission—if I recall correctly, the president of the Mobility Commission, Mr. Raúl Garza, the seventh council member—to arrange an appointment for us with the Director of Transportation, but we received no response. We requested this through Luis Morales, who is the direct supervisor of the Director of Transportation, and we have also received no response," said Felix Caldera Serrano, general secretary of the Torreón Materialist Truck Drivers' Union (CTM) and president of the Support Front of Transportation Organizations (FAOT). He chaired this meeting, which included the participation of leaders of transportation organizations from Torreón, San Pedro, Madero, Matamoros, and some who have historically worked in both Laguna de Coahuila and Durango.

He mentioned that if Torreón authorities don't respond to this legitimate complaint, which they hope to resolve through dialogue and concrete actions, they will seek other alternatives and measures to make their voices heard.

Transporters from the Comarca Lagunera region expressed to Caldera the need to establish a dialogue with the City Council, as they already have with the Coahuila State Government. This has not been possible to materialize so far, but they see it as urgent.

Félix Caldera pointed out that even as a union leader, he has faced consequences for his disapproval of what he considers to be arbitrary actions by the CATEM organization.

"They carried out a threat on me; they stole my truck, I was the target of that, they took the driver, they beat him. It was in Coahuila, and they took him to Durango..."

Dialogue opens with the Government of Coahuila

Felix Caldera Serrano, general secretary of the Torreón Material Truck Drivers' Union (CTM) and president of the Transport Organizations Support Front (FAOT), stated that they are requesting support from Torreón municipal authorities but have received no response.

"We requested the support of the municipal authority and as I said, we did not receive a response. We sent a message to the mayor and the mayor definitely saw it as a problem between organizations, but the organization with which we have this problem is CATEM and it has continued working, and we, in order to maintain peace and tranquility in the Municipality and the State itself, have continued to tolerate this situation, and that led us to request the support of the Governor, whom we are very grateful for having given us his support, and to review that, but not all the work falls to the State Government, not all the work falls to the Governor," said Caldera. The transporters of La Comarca Lagunera expressed to Caldera the need to establish a dialogue with the City Council, which until now has not been possible to carry out.

“Here in Torreón there are department heads like the Director of Transportation, whose name I don't know either if you ask me because he hasn't shown up, and we need him to hear from us, to receive us, and to discuss transportation issues and what measures the municipal authorities are going to take to prevent a situation like the one we're experiencing here on the other side of the municipality of Torreón, in Gómez Palacio, Durango. We don't want that to happen here in Torreón. Here present are organizations from other municipalities such as San Pedro, Madero, and Matamoros that have also had some situation with these "gentlemen" from CATEM, and the municipal governments of each municipality have acted and attended to them. Why is this allowed here in Torreón?" he pointed out.

Caldera mentioned that a few months ago, during the construction of a Walmart store located across from Costco, they requested the presence of municipal authorities because trucks from other municipalities with private license plates were working there, all illegally. He mentioned that it's true that a shopping center can hire anyone it wants to transport materials, as in this case, as long as they have a municipal concession, which wasn't the case, but this group complaining does have one.

He commented that the problem is that CATEM personnel are using private trucks without permits or concessions, taking work away from those who do comply with their permits and concessions and who are also members of the industry who have worked in the area for many years. He emphasized that concessions for transporting materials are granted precisely to prevent disorder, and that if one doesn't have these official permits, which the authorities themselves issue, one is violating all legality, and that this has been caused by the lack of action by the authorities.

“ The problem is that there's a lot of chaos within the transportation system here in Torreón, and adding to that chaos is the addition of an organization like CATEM, which only adds to the chaos. It only adds to the already difficult situation we're facing. There's no support from the municipal authorities to take action against these situations, and that's what we're looking for: for them to listen to us, for them to give us our right to a hearing, from the Director of Transportation, the President of the Aldermen's Commission in charge of Transportation, the Director of Roads, I don't know, someone who will listen to us and explain the problems we have. We've already knocked on every door, including the mayor's," the leader stated, while the other leaders of the organizations agreed with him and shared experiences that add to these complaints.

He pointed out that so far the Government of the State of Coahuila has given them a positive response: "If it weren't for the instruction that the governor gave to the Undersecretary of Transportation in the State and to the Undersecretary of Government himself, we would have a very serious problem right now," Caldera said,

Agreement reached with the Municipality of Gómez Palacio

“CATEM arrived in the State of Durango, in Lerdo and Gómez Palacio, three or four years ago, because our colleagues in Gómez Palacio have had many difficult and very complicated situations such as complaints, kidnappings, beatings, we had it all there,” said Félix Caldera, who pointed out that in the case of the transporters of Gómez Palacio, they have endured all kinds of pressure, which led them to seek dialogue with municipal authorities of Gómez Palacio.

" The pressure and resistance our colleagues from Gómez Palacio have had to endure has been so great that at this point the hardest part is over. "Right now, the colleague can already work, but there was a commitment from the outgoing administration, from President Leticia Herrera, to avoid these types of problems, and support has been provided so that the colleagues can continue working. Are there agreements? Yes, it was achieved, for example, that if he takes a particular job, he will be able to do it… Yes, there are agreements, and they are respected, but Mrs. Leticia Herrera has had a lot to do with it. They are agreements with the Municipality, but we don't negotiate with those people from CATEM," commented Caldera, who added that in the case of La Laguna de Durango, they have been working "more in agreement with these guys from CATEM" after the commitment from Gómez Palacio's authorities.