More than 25K strike at Mexican border factories
Source: Detroit News
Mexico City More than 25,000 Mexican workers at dozens of factories south of Brownsville, Texas, went on strike Friday after owners of the plants that assemble for export refused union demands for a 20 percent pay hike and an annual bonus.
The Union of Maquiladora Industry Industrial Workers of Matamoros, the SJOIIM, said that by late Saturday nine companies had agreed to meet the salary and bonus demands.
The strikes affect factories that make auto parts, medical equipment, plastics and other goods.
The labor strife comes on the heels of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors promise to double the minimum wage in communities along the U.S. border to 176.2 pesos a day, the equivalent of $9.28 at current exchange rates.
However, workers who were making more than minimum wage in Matamoros factories would not have benefited from the hike in the minimum wage, sparking discontent. The workers are also demanding a one-time bonus of about $1,685.
Read more: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2019/01/26/strike-mexican-border-factories/38961091/
El Mimbreno
(777 posts)These exploitative companies are parasites! At this wage, the workers live in shacks, no running water. All for corporate profit.
dalton99a
(81,062 posts)Bengus81
(6,907 posts)And that was 15 or so years ago when they probably made $5.00 per day. That breakfast was just a cheap ass come-on to get them to come to work each day. Meanwhile after American workers went down and taught them their particular job skill they were laid off.
3Hotdogs
(12,197 posts)Unions only take their dues and give nothin' in return.
Yes, its sarcasm.
Scruffy1
(3,239 posts)Not only are the wages below poverty,if you get hurt on the job you are screwed. This largely could have been avoided with an actual fair trade deal. Many manufacturers use a "third party" to lease buildings and actually run their operations which makes things very tough to deal with. If the third party has a contract set on a fixed price then its very hard to negotiate for wage increases. All these trade agreements need a serious overhaul to include a living wage and decent worker protecrions before they get duty free status.
Farmer-Rick
(10,071 posts)So, when corporations moved their facilities to Mexico they got to keep all that money they were using to pay for US workers' healthcare. So not only do they pay marginal subsistence wages but they pay practically no benefits.
But for a poor country, it's amazing Mexico can afford to provide universal healthcare but the US can NOT.