Printer Giant Lexmark Fires Mexico Factory Workers Demanding $0.35 Raise Nina Lakhani - The Guardian
go to original December 17, 2015

Marcos Godoy of Mexico City manufactures car dash mats at a maquiladora belonging to the TECMA group in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (Ivan Pierre Aguirre/AP)

Printer and software giant Lexmark has fired dozens of workers from its factory in the Mexican city of Ciudad Júarez after they demanded a pay rise of $0.35 per day.

Hundreds of workers at the printer cartridge plant went on strike last week, calling for the company to increase its daily rate for experienced employees from 114 to 120 pesos – a raise of approximately $0.35.

Days later, Lexmark fired around 120 of the striking workers. Most of those dismissed had been involved in attempts to set up an independent union to advocate pay increases and improvements in working conditions.

The mass layoff has left families in dire straits in the run-up to the holidays. Low-paid workers in Mexico often rely on the traditional end of year benefit – known as the Aguinaldo – to settle debts and pay for Christmas.

Ciudad Júarez is the hub of Mexico’s manufacturing sector, with around 300,000 factory workers but no independent unions. The city – located over the border from El Paso, Texas – was until recently the most dangerous in the world as warring drug cartels battled over territory.

But despite ongoing security concerns, American companies are drawn to the city by tax benefits offered through the North American Free Trade Agreement, low transport costs due to its proximity to the border and low wages. Mexico’s minimum daily wage is 70 pesos – around $4.

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