© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Mexican labor lawyer Susana Prieto leads an illustration with supporters and staff exterior an workplace of the Chihuahua state authorities in Mexico City
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By Daina Beth Solomon
MATAMOROS, Mexico (Reuters) – After efficiently staging a wildcat strike for greater wages in 2019, many staff on the Tridonex auto-parts plant within the Mexican metropolis of Matamoros, throughout the border from Texas, set their sights greater: changing the union that they are saying didn’t struggle for them.
Six staff on the manufacturing unit, which refits second-hand automotive components on the market within the United States and Canada, advised Reuters they felt let down that their union, SITPME, didn’t again their calls for for higher pay. About 400 Tridonex staff protested exterior a Matamoros labor court docket final yr to be allowed to change unions.
When the primary protests broke out in 2019, lots of the plant’s roughly 4,000 staff earned simply above the then-minimum wage of 176.72 pesos ($8.82) a day.
The Tridonex staff and 1000’s extra at different Matamoros factories walked off the job demanding a 20% elevate and 32,000-peso bonus, many with out union backing. In practically all instances, the businesses conceded.
“This showed us what we were capable of,” stated Edgar Salazar, then a Tridonex worker. “We know we have rights, but the union just wants to cash in. It doesn’t support us at all.”
Jesus Mendoza, SITPME’s long-time chief, stated his union generated jobs and delivered perks to its members whereas sustaining harmonious relationships with employers.
However, Salazar and lots of of his Tridonex colleagues wished to throw their help behind a brand new group led by activist and legal professional Susana Prieto.
But their efforts are failing, labor specialists acknowledge.
Dismantling the ability of Mexico’s entrenched unions is proving a tricky problem, some labor activists say, with few indicators that reforms promised beneath a brand new North American trade deal are but charting a neater course.
Amid resistance from SITPME, the Tridonex staff’ request to be represented by Prieto’s union has nonetheless not been put to a vote. Legal challenges by legal professional Prieto to exchange unions at 45 different factories within the space have additionally stalled.
When Prieto urged strikes in January to once more demand greater pay, only a few hundred individuals protested throughout a handful of firms.
“They’re scared, because they don’t have anyone to defend them,” Prieto stated. According to Prieto, about 600 of her supporters at Tridonex — together with Salazar — have been fired between April and October 2020. Reuters couldn’t independently affirm this.
Cardone Industries, Tridonex’s Philadelphia-based mum or dad, didn’t reply to a query about allegations of retaliation.
It says layoffs have been made because of lowered demand following pandemic lockdowns however didn’t present additional particulars. Cardone is managed by Canadian firm Brookfield Asset Management.
SLOW PROGRESS
Leftist President Manuel Andres Lopez Obrador handed a legislation in 2019 guaranteeing staff the correct to impartial unions. Though sturdy on paper, it doesn’t come absolutely into impact till 2023.
“The law in general is very good. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to get any change in Mexico anytime soon,” stated Kimberly Nolan, a labor scholar on the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences analysis institute.
Some of the Matamoros staff at the moment are seeking to the United States for backing.
A brand new free trade deal between Mexico, the United States and Canada (USMCA) carried out final yr enshrined staff’ rights to decide on which union administers their collective contract.
With Democrat Joe Biden now president, Mexico could come beneath shut scrutiny to uphold the USMCA’s pro-worker provisions, which have been partly designed to stop low labor prices from leeching extra U.S. jobs.
Under the treaty, firms failing to make sure freedom of affiliation for staff in Mexico may very well be sanctioned with tariffs and different penalties.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which runs U.S. trade coverage, didn’t reply to a query of how the Biden administration would deal with violations of the trade pact’s labor measures.
But Katherine Tai, head of the company, stated final week she was “not afraid” to make use of the enforcement provisions of the USMCA, with out specifying which points may come beneath evaluate.
The highly effective U.S. union federation, the AFL-CIO, advised Reuters in April it was drafting instances in opposition to firms in Mexico beneath USMCA, and would make particulars public in May.
Matamoros is one in all a string of Mexican border cities which American companies have been lured to by low cost labor in latest a long time. Its factories provide components for General Motors Co (NYSE:), Toyota Motor (NYSE:) Corp, Stellantis and different automakers.
Booming trade with the United States has introduced jobs to areas of northern Mexico however labor rights lag.
Companies in Mexico have generally fired staff, amongst different techniques, reasonably than permit them to agitate for brand new unions, say activists, students and authorities officers.
“They fire them; they suppress them. They stop giving extra hours. They don’t give bonuses. They change them to night shift,” stated Alfredo Dominguez, head of the Federal Center of Conciliation and Labor Registration, created beneath the labor reform to make sure collective contracts are respectable.
One of the labor ministry’s priorities is to get rid of so-called “protection contracts,” signed between unions and employers with out staff’ prior session or data, which Dominguez stated make up a minimum of 80% of all collective contracts in Mexico.
The labor reform, as soon as carried out, can even get rid of native panels blamed by labor activists for lengthy delays within the course of of building new unions like Prieto’s. The boards can be changed with tribunals reporting to the judicial department.
NEW TACTICS
Frustrated by delays in establishing a brand new union, a whole bunch of Tridonex staff early in 2020 opted for a brand new tactic: declaring they not wished to pay dues to the established union, SITPME. After a number of tense protests, Tridonex consented.
Then firings started, 4 staff advised Reuters.
In March 2020, Efren Ruiz, who cleaned and assembled brake components for Tridonex and was a vocal advocate of Prieto’s union, was dismissed.
“This is reprisal,” Ruiz remembered telling a supervisor, earlier than safety guards escorted him out, he stated.
Three different staff additionally stated they believed their union activism led to their dismissals. A authorities document seen by Reuters, dated October 30, 2020, reveals Tridonex dismissed 717 individuals from April to October final yr.
Reuters was unable to find out if any have been employed again since. Mexico’s Social Security Institute, which tracks employment, stated it couldn’t touch upon particular person firms.
Prieto stated the firings have been retaliation by the corporate to guard SITPME and stop extra strikes for higher pay.
SITPME chief Mendoza described complaints of retaliation as “lies.” Cardone stated in an announcement the employees discount was because of a drop in demand and was “managed through transparent and constructive discussions with employees and relevant trade unions.”
SITPME – which extols membership perks resembling medical and authorized help – stated it lured again a minimum of 3,000 individuals from totally different firms who had supported Prieto’s breakaway group. Reuters couldn’t independently affirm this.
Mendoza famous that he strives for dialogue with firms, not strikes: “What we do well is guarantee labor peace and efficiency in the workforce.”
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source https://infomagzine.com/in-mexico-autos-town-labor-rights-falter-despite-u-s-trade-deal-by-reuters/
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