2016 ITUC Global Rights Index - Mexico
| Publisher | International Trade Union Confederation |
| Publication Date | 9 June 2016 |
| Cite as | International Trade Union Confederation, 2016 ITUC Global Rights Index - Mexico, 9 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5799aa63e.html [accessed 18 October 2022] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Mexican workers strike against Arcelor Mittal: IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros, Metalúrgicos y Similares (SNTMMSRM), also known as 'Los Mineros', has launched a strike against Arcelor Mittal at its steel plant in Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán in western Mexico.
IndustriALL extends its total support to some 3,500 workers who began the strike on 4 March 2016 in response to dismissals and violations of their collective agreement by the company.
The workers scheduled the strike to begin at midday on 4 March. However, one hour before midday, the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board (JFCA) informed them it had ruled the strike to be inadmissible. This opened up the possibility that the JFCA might declare the strike to be null and void.
The workers organised a march along the city's main street to the offices of Arcelor Mittal to denounce more than 300 unfair dismissals since 2015 and violations of the collective agreement.
Freedom of association denied to workers in Juárez: In November 2015 in Ciudad Juárez across the border from El Paso, Texas, maquiladora workers in several factories began a series of protests that continued into the new year. Juárez has 330 maquiladoras employing some 225,000 workers, about 13 percent of the national maquiladora industry workforce. Just 17 of the largest factories owned by U.S., Japanese, and European capital employ 69,000 workers.
Workers at Foxconn, Lexmark, ADC/Commscope, and Eaton demanded better pay, improved working conditions and freedom of association. The workers handed out leaflets, marched in the streets, picketed in front of industrial parks, participated in hunger strikes. Workers' base pay was typically about USD 50 per week plus another USD 40 in bonuses in a high cost of living border city.
The protests in December focused on Lexmark, a multinational company that produces printer cartridges, paying workers 70.10 pesos or USD 4.03 per day. Workers are demanding an increase to 120 pesos or USD 7.00 per day. On December 8, some 700 employees stopped work to raise that demand, as well as insisting on the annual holiday bonus, required under Mexican law, which the company had withheld.
On December 28, the Local Labor Board (JLCA) denied the Lexmark workers' petition to create and register a labour union. As 2016 began, workers at Lexmark and some other workplaces continued their sit-ins while working to organise and win recognition for independent labour unions.
Violent police attack on teachers: The National Gendarmerie and the Mexican army violently attacked education workers, trainee teachers and citizens taking part in a protest held in the municipality of Ocozocoautla, Chiapas, on 8 December 2015, against the punitive assessment of teachers in Chiapas. David Gemayel Ruiz Estudillo, a member of Section 40 of the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (SNTE), was killed in the attack, during which various activists were injured and arrested.
