Maquiladora Workers in Juarez Protest Missing Wage Hike
Maquiladora workers are protesting the absence of the promised $0.35 raise since October 2015. According to Latino Rebels, the maquiladoras, which are composed of three international companies mainly Lexmark and Eaton Bussman from the U.S. and Foxconn from Taiwan, failed to push through with the previously agreed wage hike. The said amount was expected to be released in October 2015 with provisions based on each worker's job performance.
The protest was done during the course of the Transnational Pacific Partnership, where the protesters reiterated the government's inability to stop the creation of an independent union. In order to make their appeal heard, workers also picketed near the Lexmark Plant since November 2015 with members looking after the camp 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
Apart from the protest on the missing wage hike, the workers are also condemning several practices within the company: the formation of an independent union, the ending of sexual advancement on work lines and re-establishment of fired workers from the company.
On Oct. 19, 2015, Lexmark declared a total of $851 million revenue for the third quarter. Workers then demanded the promised wage hike, which the company failed to comply. When they asked for Atty. Susana Prieto Terrazas' advice regarding the matter, they were told that they could not sue the company under the Federal Labor Law but she gave them a suggestion to form an independent workers union as allowed by the law.
Led by Atty. Susana Prieto Terrazas, in early January, workers from the Lexmark Plant, headed to Mexico to bring their grievances to the State of Chihuahua in Mexico City. The protest by Lexmark workers was also supported by the Kentucky Workers League, which sponsored cultural programs in front of the Mexican Consulate, Lexmark Plant and the Lexmark Headquarters.
According to The Nation, the protest began in November when workers finally found the courage to speak and protest their concerns against the maquiladoras. Carlo Serrano from Foxconn's Scientific Atlanta Company said, "We just got so tired of the insults, the bad treatment and the low wages that we woke up. We don't really know what's going to happen now, and we're facing companies that are very powerful and have a lot of money. But what's clear is that we are going to continue. We're not going to stop."
Ali Lopez, a single mother of two and confesses that she works all the time but she can't afford the 200-peso rate of childcare, so she is forced to let her older daughter take care of her younger sibling while she's at work.
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of latinpost.com