Labor rights are in danger if the tycoon imposes tariffs, alert organizations

Jared Laureles and Jessica Xantomila

La Jornada newspaper
Friday, January 24, 2025, p. 7

The imposition of 25 percent tariffs on Mexico, as President Donald Trump has threatened serious repercussions To the working class on both sides of the border, they alerted organizations defending labor rights.

Among them, it would complicate the salary negotiations of the unions that will be carried out in the coming months and unleashed dispute solution panels, because the United States would be violating provisions of the T-MEC, such as the rules of origin of the automotive sector.

Given this panorama, the Center for Labor Research and Advice (Cilas) urged the unions to join in a common strategy to face the consequences of the Republican measures, who since he assumed the position, on Monday, the possible Application of taxes to Mexican imports.

Héctor de la Cueva, Cilas Coordinator, said that companies will use that warning to refuse to improve the purchasing power and working conditions of workers.

However, he stressed that although that happens, there is no justification to increase contractual wages by at least 10 percent, since last year the automotive industry obtained extraordinary profits.

In 2024, production reached 3.9 million vehicles, a figure higher than the 2017 record; Exports added 3.5 million units, 5.4 percent more than in 2023, and sales grew in that same period 9.8 percent, with 1.5 million cars, the third largest volume in the history of the sector in Mexico, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography.

The independent union advisor said that Trump cannot upload tariffs right and leftsince Mexico or Canada may appeal to what is agreed in the commercial agreement.