The uncertainty caused by the imposition of tariffs by the United States has complicated the collective negotiations between unions and companies to define salary increases and other conditions of collective bargaining agreements.
This was the case of the contract negotiations at Volkswagen, which nearly led to a strike, but in the end, a salary increase of 4 percent was obtained.
Oscar de la Vega, VW’s legal representative, stated that the impact of tariffs is starting to be felt in the country.
“Like Volkswagen, all automakers in Mexico and the auto-parts industry are facing a very complicated crisis because of tariffs.
“This is already having an impact in the American market and there is a reduction in the demand for vehicles in the United States because prices have increased, and a decrease in the demand for these products has an impact on companies”, De la Vega explained.
He noted that, in the case of Volkswagen, over 50 percent of automobiles produced at the Puebla plant go to the United States.
Therefore, he emphasized, the context is extremely complex for VW and all companies in the automotive and auto-parts sector.
“In this environment, we embarked on an extremely complex negotiation; there was the risk of a call for strike, the last marathon we had went on for 25 hours of continuous negotiation. Nevertheless, the union understood the company’s problems, the complexity of the economic situation that is unfolding, and this is why we reached an agreement of a 4 percent direct salary increase.
“With the contraction of the market, and the imposition of tariffs, I believe that collective disputes of an economic nature will become more frequent; these are highly technical and complex processes that the new judges will have to face”, De la Vega emphasized.
For his part, Hiram Sánchez, sub-director of international relations of Conlabor, a Confederation that brings several unions together, among them some belonging to the VW supply chain, agreed that negotiations are becoming difficult due to the uncertainty that companies are living.
“(Tariffs) have had quite an impact, particularly on the confidence in making investments in our country. In some cases we have even seen that automakers like Nissan have decided to consolidate production in Aguascalientes, and no longer in Cuernavaca, and the effect obviously affects the complete supply chain”, he said.
Sánchez believes that contract revisions have become a bit more complicated because employers don’t know what their companies’ financial outlook will be in a year or two.
“The calculations they have made give no certainty of their being able to disburse resources, as they do not know whether they will need these resources tomorrow, in case that the tariff policies become more aggressive and, as a union, this has had a significant impact in the contract and salary revisions”, he said.
