Mexican workers at Carlos Slim's Telmex go on first strike in decades (updated)
21/07/2022 18:59
(Adds labor minister's comments)
By Cassandra Garrison
MEXICO CITY, July 21 (Reuters) - The trade union of Telmex,
the Mexican telecommunications firm controlled by the family of
tycoon Carlos Slim, went on strike on Thursday for the first
time in nearly four decades after failing to reach a deal with
the company, the union said.
Dozens of Telmex's 60,000 union workers gathered outside the
company's main office in Mexico City after leaving their posts
for the strike, the first since 1985.
Many chanted, "Carlos Slim, get this, the contract is not
for sale," as passing cars honked in support.
Workers said that negotiations broke down over a series of
issues they said violated a collective bargaining agreement,
including outsourcing work, the exclusion of union members from
new Telmex projects, and a lack of investment to cover
operational and administrative needs.
The union, known as STRM for the Spanish acronym of its
name, the Mexican Telephone Workers Union, also said the company
has yet to fill nearly 2,000 vacancies that were previously
negotiated and wants to change contractual benefits for new
hires.
Omar Hernandez, 35, a union representative, said the strike
is the culmination of years of tension over disagreements in
which he said the company disregarded the interests of workers.
"The company isn't changing its attitude," he said.
Telmex, a unit of Slim's America Movil AMXL.MX , said in a
statement that the union went on strike after no agreement could
be reached that was "financially viable" for the company. Telmex
said it would continue negotiating with the union.
Union leaders on Thursday afternoon asked workers to vote on
a proposal mediated by the Labor Ministry that would create a
working group comprised of company and union representatives
along with government mediators.
The group would aim to find a solution to the dispute within
20 days, according to a document shown on the union's YouTube
channel. The proposal did not define a date for ending the
strike.
Labor Minister Luisa Alcalde said on Twitter that progress
was being made towards resolving the conflict, adding she
expected an agreement to be reached on Friday.
The union said in an earlier statement that Telmex used
"coercive measures" while negotiating some aspects of the
contract.
The union reached a deal last month for some workers to
receive 4.5% raises. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nE1N2X101O
The union for automaker Volkswagen in Mexico on Wednesday
agreed on 9% raises in a one-year contract covering 12,000
workers, after talks in which the union said it stressed rising
inflation.
Inflation recently accelerated to a level not seen since
early 2001, with consumer prices rising 7.99% in the year
through June. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2YO0R6
(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Cassandra Garrison;
Additional reporting by Anthony Esposito
Editing by Aurora Ellis, Leslie Adler and Grant McCool)
((daina.solomon@thomsonreuters.com; +52 55 5282 7150;))