A friend works for a US company with plants in Mexico. She was told that Mexican law requires US companies to pay their Mexican workers no more than $10 a day, and that they’re also required to provide three meals a day to their workers (and that the plants with the best food have the lowest employee turnover).
Does anyone know if this is true? I can’t even begin to come up with a Google search question.
It’s interesting if it’s true, because it explains why, with all the US companies moving to Mexico, Mexican workers still want to work in the US.
Simply not true. Wages for unskilled labor at many plants may not be much higher than that but there is no law limiting wages. There is a federal minimum wage though.
Mexico has a lot more protections than US, not fewer.
They mandate longer paid vacations and more holidays, and they require more notice for layoffs and more separation pay.
I’ve worked for (a cumulative total of) over two years at US plants in Mexico. It’s B.S.
During my first turn in the state of Guanajuato, the unskilled labor earned about $20 per day, which was higher than the prevailing wage for unskilled labor in the area. In additiona to that…
[ul]
[li]bus transportation back and forth to work (private busses, not public transportation)[/li][li]lunch (but we Americans force an American culture on these plants. The norm would be to go home at lunchtime for two hours to have a complete, family dinner prior to returning to work). The quality of the food was excellent (not quality as in top-restaurant, but nutritious, variable, consistent, and not bad).[/li][li]medical insurance beyond the base government system[/li][li]on site, full service medical in addition to the enhanced insurance[/li][li]discounts on that manufacturer’s products[/li][/ul]
I was told (but I can’t confirm) that the unskilled salary was meant to have been higher, but that the government insisted it not be because it would have negatively impacted the socio-economic balance of the area. In all, for an unskilled position with the prices at that time, $20 wasn’t all that bad a deal. Also, the prevailing (meaning the people that would answer the question) wage for the salaried folks (middle management level) was about $12-$15 per hour, not too bad at all.
More recently in a different part of the country with a different manufacturer (my current employer), the unskilled wage was closer to $35 per day, with all of the same benefits as above. In this case, though, a lot more of the unskilled workforce chose to use their own vehicles because they were able to afford it. I found that this part of the country (state of Sonora) was considerably more expensive than in Guanajuato, so maybe the the wage wasn’t better per se, but just commensurate with the area. I don’t know what the salaried guys made, but more than one of them told us they didn’t complain about the pay difference after having spent six months in the USA prior to launch and seeing how much more everything costs in SE Michigan.
Oh, yeah, depending on region, the highest required minimum wage in Mexico was under USD$5 in 2006 for unskilled labor. There are also other, higher minimum wages for skilled workers. See this.
It’s really puzzling that she’d be told this lie. I can’t think of a reason for it, unless they’re trying to keep their Mexican workers in the US from going back home to work. It sounds like they’d get a better deal in Mexico. Pay starts at $10 an hour, with none of the benefits you listed.
Would a particular US company be required to pay their Mexican employees less? Non-competition with a similar Mexican-owned company, or something? (They make plastic parts for home appliances.)
Actually they’re praised for the competitive wages and the jobs that they brought to the region, including all of the jobs related to this particular plant, such as a supplier park plants, hotels and hospitality industries, and the increased tourism of a bunch of Americans that otherwise wouldn’t be there. I go back to the area at least twice a year, for example, and spend money – something I’d probably not be aware of being able to do were it not for my previous assignment there.
FWIW, though, I did say that I couldn’t confirm the wage rumour. It could be as CBEscapee says, it could be something a gringo made up to make himself not feel so bad, or it could be/have been the truth. The wage is low compared to American wages, but the economy there works differently. I’d like to see a wage analysis of $35/day in Mexico vs. $10/hour in the USA, including the benefits I mentioned (and others, such as indemnisacion), versus receiving nothing at all in the USA aside from the wage. I’m guessing they’re going to be competitive.
Now I’m wondering if the person who told her that was lying or just misinformed/confused.