Saint Gobain’s lawyer, Óscar de la Vega, said that this contract agreement will be submitted for the consideration of the workers; therefore, the pre-strike period was extended to April 5 at 6:00 hours.
The French-owned company Saint Gobain signed the first collective bargaining agreement with the Independent Union of the Free and Democratic Workers of this company with a direct salary increase of 9% and 2% in benefits.
The union organization, which emerged after the 2019 labor reform and its implementation in Morelos – October 2021 – explained that this negotiation, which has taken more than 5 months, is the starting point of the new labor relationship.
Information from the Federal Center for Labor Conciliation and Registration (CFCRL) indicates that union organizations that have legitimized their collective bargaining agreement have been able to obtain salary increases that are 5.7% higher than those who have not.
Joaquín Guzmán, general secretary of the union, explained that it is a triumph for the workers to obtain the signature of the collective bargaining agreement, especially because the company has the union representation that proved to have the strongest support by the workers.
It is worth noting that in September 2022, the Independent Union of the Free and Democratic Workers of Saint Gobain won the elections to represent the workers, after two decades of the Confederation of Workers and Peasants (CTC), represented by Abel Domínguez, being in charge.
Guzmán pointed out that “we hope to continue with the good communication and goodwill shown by the company representatives so far.”
In this regard, the company’s lawyer, Óscar de la Vega, said that this contract agreement will be submitted for the consideration of the workers; therefore, the pre-strike period was extended to April 5 at 6:00 hours.
It is worth noting that, even though the union leadership has reached an agreement with the company, this decision must be submitted to a vote by all of the workers; this, as part of the labor reform of 2019.
Data from the Banco de México underlines that contractual salary reviews in the first month of this year were, on average, of 10.88%, considering that 223 companies signed an agreement, which benefits 97,485 workers.
Additionally, it points out that the average increase in private companies is of 11.23%; while public companies had an average increase of 4.91%; and, in relation to sectors, the salary increase in manufacturing was of 11.63% and of 9.65 in other sectors.
Saint Gobain has industrial units in Morelos, Tlaxcala, San Luis Potosí, Coahuila, Baja California and Tamaulipas. The new contract agreement covers the workers of the Cuautla, Morelos unit, who said that it is not only about improving salaries but about having respect in the way they are treated at the workplace as well as about transparency in the use of union dues, to avoid abuse.
