After negotiate a lot, General Motors raised wages for workers at its largest plant in Mexico, averaging up to 25 cents an hour. This increased the average wage of factory workers from $3 an hour to $3.25 for many at the GM Silao plant, where Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra done.
SINTTIA, the labor union representing 6,500 workers of Silao, said new contact guaranteed 8.5% salary increase (link in spanish.) That number doesn’t equal workers asked for a 19.2 percent increase in wagesbut it’s higher than GM’s 3.5%.
The 8.5% increase is slightly above inflation in Mexico, which reached 7.68% in April according to Bloomberg. SINTTIA cited domestic inflation as the main reason behind their double-digit claim, and GM can now say it has done more than just combat inflation – even if it’s less than a percentage point .
With this latest increase, the average wage for GM truck factory workers in Mexico will be between $25 and $27 per day. That contrasts with GM workers in the US, who earn between $18 and $32 an hour.
However, the new employment contract is still hailed as a landmark because it includes provisions that the old contracts lacked. Among these are $79 performance bonuses that are issued each quarter, along with incentives that reduce employees’ taxable income. And to sweeten the deal, there is now a guarantee that workers will get the day off on December 24, for Christmas Eve.
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The new contract also includes a commitment to safeguard against workplace harassment and sexual assault, but it stops short of codifying protocols for the response when such violations occur.
SINTTIA says the incentives, bonuses and salary bump add up to a 13.8-percent global raise for workers; whatever math the labor union uses to come to that conclusion is beyond me. But I am happy for these workers who will finally get the day off on Christmas Eve while earning two more dollars per day as they build GM’s most profitable pickup trucks.
