Strike averted at Mexico plant: Audi comments on criticism of working conditions
Created: 01/16/2023 06:54
By: Dominik Jahn
Audi prevents strike in Mexico plant and comments on criticism of working conditions.
© Audi
Audi reacted to the dissatisfaction of the employees at the plant in Mexico and prevented a strike.
The car company spoke to echo24.de about the situation and the criticism of the working conditions.
In the past few days, Audi had to deal with the missed targets for sales figures for 2022, as
echo24.de
reported.
And even if the bottom line is that sales in the automotive industry somehow seemed acceptable for the corporations, some figures hide the difficult times ahead.
And now there are other problems.
As reported by the portal "marketscreener.com", among others, a strike was just averted at the Audi plant in Mexico on Wednesday (January 11).
According to the report, the independent union of workers from Audi Mexico (SITAUDI) and Audi had previously
negotiated "two options to increase wages for the 4,000 unionized workers at the plant in central Puebla state, but the workers rejected both in December.
"
Company: | Audi |
|---|---|
Head office: | Ingolstadt |
Founding: | July 16, 1909, Zwickau |
umbrella organization: | Volkswagen AG |
Audi averts strike at plant in Mexico – criticism of working conditions
Now the wage dispute threatened to escalate into a strike.
But Audi gave in.
When asked by
echo24.de
, the company explained: "The stability of the location and the economic stability of each individual employee always had top priority."
In February 2022 there was an interview with Patricia Juan Pineda in the "Frankfurter Rundschau" (FR).
And the trade unionist expressed clear criticism of the German auto industry: "They have great products, but treat their workers badly.
German employers have a bad image.”
Automaker comments on the situation in Mexico
A statement that one would not want to leave at Audi.
The group says: "The wage increase of 9.4 percent is one percent above the Mexican inflation rate of October 2022." According to Patricia Juan Pineda, there are
"bad working conditions and bad wages at German company locations in Mexico"
.
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In the "FR" interview, the trade unionist from the auto industry does not name Audi, but takes BMW as an example: "The Germans also rely on protective unions, and if they are publicly attacked for it, they say: It's completely legal, we can do that. And she goes on to explain: “The system of employer protection contracts should attract investment by making workers cheap and controlled.
That also explains why we have some of the lowest wages in all of Latin America.”
Audi refers to multiple awards as a good employer
When asked whether the agreement to the financial demands in the collective bargaining dispute could be seen as a kind of admission to the heavily criticized working conditions and poor wages of German car manufacturers on site, Audi refers to the fact that Audi Mexico has three times in a row since 2020 was recognized as a top employer.
Audi Mexico
According to the Audi Group, Audi Mexico is the youngest plant on the American continent and is characterized by very advanced production processes as well as ecological, social and economic sustainability.
4,896 employees work on site.
And the car manufacturer goes on to explain: “In the ranking of wages paid in the automotive industry in Mexico, Audi Mexico is well in the upper range.” In addition to wages, Patricia Juan Pineda also sees other important issues for employees: “Other aspects are safety, health and housing.
And an eight-hour day would also be very important for us.”
