In Mexico autos labor rights falter despite trade deal
After successfully staging a wildcat strike for higher wages in 2019, many workers at the Tridonex auto-parts plant in the Mexican city of Matamoros, across the border from Texas, set their sights higher: replacing the union that they say failed to fight for them. Six workers at the factory, which refits secondhand car parts for sale in the United States and Canada, told Reuters they felt let down that their union, SITPME, did not back their demands for better pay.
About 400 Tridonex workers protested outside a Matamoros labor court last year to be allowed to switch unions.
When the first protests broke out in 2019, many of the plant's roughly 4,000 workers earned just above the then-minimum wage of 176.72 pesos ($8.82) a day. The Tridonex workers and thousands more at other Matamoros factories walked off the job demanding a 20% raise and 32,000-peso bonus, many without union backing. In nearly all cases, the companies conceded.
"This showed us what we were capable of," said Edgar Salazar, then a Tridonex employee. "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 leader, said his union generated jobs and delivered perks to its members while maintaining harmonious relationships with employers.
However, Salazar and many of his Tridonex colleagues wanted to throw their support behind a new organization led by activist and attorney Susana Prieto. But their efforts are failing, labor experts acknowledge.
Dismantling the power of Mexico's entrenched unions is proving a tough challenge, some labor activists say, with few signs that reforms promised under a new North American trade deal are yet charting an easier course.
Amid resistance from SITPME, the Tridonex workers' request to be represented by Prieto's union has still not been put to a vote. Legal challenges by attorney Prieto to replace unions at 45 other factories in the area have also stalled.
When Prieto urged strikes in January to again demand higher pay, just a few hundred people protested across a handful of companies.
"They're scared, because they don't have anyone to defend them," Prieto said. According to Prieto, about 600 of her supporters at Tridonex including Salazar were fired between April and October 2020. Reuters could not independently confirm this.
Cardone Industries, Tridonex's Philadelphiabased
parent, did not respond to a question about allegations of retaliation. It says layoffs were made due to reduced demand following pandemic lockdowns but did not provide further details. Cardone is controlled by Canadian company Brookfield Asset Management. Leftist President Manuel Andres Lopez Obrador passed a law in 2019 guaranteeing workers the right to independent unions. Though strong on paper, it does not come fully into effect until 2023.