Note published on March 1 in El Economista, Empresas [Companies] Section by María del Pilar Martínez.
Read original source
During the whole year 6,010 salary reviews were conducted in the Federal Jurisdiction, involving 2,180,286 workers, an amount that is 12.48% lower in comparison to 2019. In average, salary increases of 4.7% in nominal terms and 0.92% in real terms were obtained.
While some union organizations resume the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements with their companies and evaluate the decisions made in face of the Covid-19 pandemic, one year has passed since the confirmation of the first case in Mexico; others have maintained agreements that stipulate reductions in working hours, salaries or modifications to some benefits and clauses stipulated in labor agreements.
The leader of the Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants (CROC), Isaías González Cuevas, said in an interview that all reviews have been conducted, but “agreements were reached with several employers, delaying increases until March of this year; in other cases, 60% of workers remain at home, which means that only social security is covered, these are the cases that will be reviewed, as well as benefits, because there are sectors that have not been reactivated yet, as in the case of tourism.”
While wage negotiations have remained at 5%, the behavior that unions have had is very important, because “I don’t believe that the increase will be much higher. Fortunately, the fear that negotiations would go very high due to the15% increase to the minimum wage did not materialize, because said percentage was wisely divided and the direct increase was of only 6%, I believe that helped. Unions are still very much aware that there is no capability to give more and there is good communication”, explained the partner of the D&M Abogados Firm, which represents several national and international companies.
Additionally, the interviewees agreed in highlighting that there will not be many strikes, given the fact that unions have clearly understood that, for now, there is no capability to negotiate the clauses of the contracts upward.
Collective bargaining maintained purchasing power
During the whole year 6,010 salary reviews were conducted in the Federal Jurisdiction, involving 2,180,286 workers, an amount that is 12.48% lower in comparison to 2019. In average, salary increases of 4.7% in nominal terms and 0.92% in real terms were obtained.
According to the most recent report from the National Commission on Minimum Wages, “it is important to emphasize that, despite the current economic crisis and the loss of jobs in 2020, the purchasing power of workers involved in collective bargaining did not decrease, in fact, in the last two months the agreed salaries resumed their path toward recovery seen last year.”
In 2020 there were 5,672 calls to strike, 3,030 for the review of contracts, 2,499 for the review of salaries and 143 for breach of contract; 26.19% of the calls to strike were within the food industry, followed by the chemical industry with 19.58% and the manufacture of transportation equipment with 14.24 percent.
