In November 2015 in Ciudad Juárez across the border from El Paso, Texas, maquiladora workers in several factories began a series of protests that continued into the new year. Juárez has 330 maquiladoras employing some 225,000 workers, about 13 percent of the national maquiladora industry workforce. Just 17 of the largest factories owned by U.S., Japanese, and European capital employ 69,000 workers.
Workers at Foxconn, Lexmark, ADC/Commscope, and Eaton demanded better pay, improved working conditions and freedom of association. The workers handed out leaflets, marched in the streets, picketed in front of industrial parks, participated in hunger strikes. Workers’ base pay was typically about US$50 per week plus another US$40 in bonuses in a high cost of living border city.
The protests in December focused on Lexmark, a multinational company that produces printer cartridges, paying workers 70.10 pesos or US$4.03 per day. Workers are demanding an increase to 120 pesos or US$7.00 per day. On December 8, some 700 employees stopped work to raise that demand, as well as insisting on the annual holiday bonus, required under Mexican law, which the company had withheld.
On December 28, the Local Labor Board (JLCA) denied the Lexmark workers’ petition to create and register a labour union. As 2016 began, workers at Lexmark and some other workplaces continued their sit-ins while working to organise and win recognition for independent labour unions.