Comité Fronterizo
de Obrer@s
CFO
For the labor rights and all human rights of the maquiladora workers
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Comité Fronterizo For the labor rights and all human rights of the maquiladora workers |
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Comité Fronterizo de Obreras, for www.cfomaquiladoras.org Workers Don’t Like Delphi Anymore The Fight for a Wage Increase In January 2005, Delphi Delco Electronics and the CTM union started the annual round of negotiations on the percentage of wage increase for its more than 4,000 workers in the border city of Reynosa, Mexico. The workers, through some democratically-elected delegates from the sectional committees who are truly fighting for the rights of the rank and file, pushed the management and the union leadership to set the bar at a 6 per cent increase. In a meeting, the management offered a 3.5 per cent. The delegates did not accept that but CTM’s leader Javier Hernández got upset with his delegates and refused to support them before leaving the meeting. Later a manager also left the room. The democratically-elected delegates asked the union leadership to convene a general membership meeting to ask if the majority wanted the 3.5 per cent. The CTM would not call such a meeting. Another leader reportedly said “Javier already accepted a 4 per cent and we can’t ask for more because the company doesn’t have the money.” A 4 per cent increase would be half a point below the increase recommended this year for minimum wages by the National Commission on Minimum Wages, a federal body. Relocation from Plant #3 to Plant #6 The plant consolidation process that involves the closing down of Plant #3 has been delayed. It was going to be completed December 2004 with the transfer of those workers willing to move to Plant #6. The company now mentions the month of March as the deadline. Managers are telling supervisors to continue asking each worker to choose between a) an indemnification and the option to be rehired; and b) a $10,000 pesos bonus as an incentive to move to Plant #6 while keeping their seniority. But managers are harassing the workers so that they will resign voluntarily. When workers reach their limit of patience, they are being offered a negotiation of their indemnification. In other cases, some supervisors are telling the workers that it is better to accept the $10,000 pesos because that money might not be available later. The workers report that as a result of the ill-treatment of workers many people simply don’t want to work for Delphi. They say the company shows signs that it does needs people willing to work for it. A number of workers, for example, did not show up to work when they came back to Reynosa in early January from the December vacations. Other women workers are leaving Delphi through word of mouth, applying for jobs in a maquiladora of medical products that pays better than Delphi. Temporary production suspensions are another problem for the workers. When there is no work to do, they are sent home but get only 60 per cent of their wages. Taking advantage of those suspensions, Delphi forces the workers to take their vacations during periods of low work instead of when the workers request it. For example, some workers will not be able to take vacations around Holy Week in March because they were compelled to take them this February. Savings Fund A modification of the savings fund program in Delphi is another cause of concern for workers. They have been given an application form to become members of the Savings Fund. A worker who signs the form authorizes a fund’s administrative committee to deposit the worker’s money into it and “to invest it to obtain the best performance of the Savings Fund.” Workers are confused and upset because the application form does not include important information. They have not been provided with the missing information verbally, either. For example, the application does not specify which company or bank will handle their money. It does not say who are the members of the administrative committee, nor does it include a name or signature of a Delphi manager. The supervisors have said that the application form is valid because there was an agreement with the union, signed by the union leader. Some workers say that the application form given to the employees is more explicit about Delphi’s matching contribution to the fund. Once again, the company is not clear in its information to the workers and that only causes rumors to spread. According to some information, each worker would receive $2,000 pesos every six months ($1,000 from their own contribution and $1,000 from Delphi’s matching fund) plus interest. However, if a worker borrowed money from the company, Delphi could retrieve it from the worker’s savings fund. And if a worker wants to borrow, the amount requested would be granted but taken from the savings fund. In those cases, the amount in the worker’s savings fund for the six-month period would be reduced accordingly. Many workers have not signed the savings fund application form. They are also asking for the appropriate information but it is not clear who in management is responsible for answering the questions. That situation is only increasing their mistrust of Delphi. Meanwhile, some managers threaten the workers, saying that if they do not sign, the savings fund will be cancelled altogether. Workers Asked to Perform Supervisor’s Tasks The Delphi workers have been asked to do work that it is outside their responsibilities. One example is the writing of a report when something in operation goes wrong. The completion of such a report is the responsibility of a team leader but a line worker is asked to do it. When the worker responds that he/she does not have the job level or simply that the report is not a task for him/her, the supervisors threaten to move the worker to another area. The warehouse is an area known to be a place of punishment for workers who refuse to do work that does not belong to them. Very often there are problems of quality because the technician is somewhere else. The workers say: “the supervisors have the job positions, but don’t know the operations and that’s why they want their work to be done by the line workers.” More Operations and More Pressures The workers report pressures and harassment in Plant #6. Delphi has eliminated people and positions. A line that used to have 14 people now has 3 workers operating 9 machines. Another area had 5 workers plus the team leader. Today it has only 3 workers. The machines were separated a few more meters, and chairs will be removed. Due to the increased distance between machines workers are rushing from one side to the other all the time. Supervisor Accused of Sexual Harassment The Delphi women workers have identified a supervisor who is particularly abusive. His name is Jaime de la Rosa. He also has the greatest number of sexual harassment reports filed against him in the plant.
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www.cfomaquiladoras.org is produced in cooperation with the Comité Fronterizo de Obrer@s (CFO) |
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