"'Fed up' GM workers in Mexico pick new union in historic vote", 4 February 2022

An upstart union...won an election to represent General Motors workers in central Mexico, opening the door to the prospect of bigger pay rises, inspired by U.S.-backed labor reform...

The union known as SINTTIA won 78% of the votes cast by several thousand workers at GM's plant in the city of Silao, beating three rivals including Mexico's biggest labor organization that had held the plant contract for 25 years.

Worker Jesus Barroso said he chose SINTTIA to push out the past union, which he said did little to help its members, a frequent charge by workers and activists about "protection" unions that they say prioritize business interests.

"We're fed up. Being fed up is what's making us take this decision," said Barroso, noting he takes home 480 pesos ($23.27) in his daily 12-hour shift after more than a decade at GM.

"I think we have the right to give our families, our kids a better quality of life."...

GM, which employs 6,300 people in Silao, said it would work with SINTTIA to begin a contract negotiation and thanked employees for voting.

SINTTIA said it was still preparing a pitch, but would like to see raises above inflation, which ended 2021 above 7%.

"For years, we lost so much. Now we'll have to go bit by bit," the group's secretary general, Alejandra Morales, told a news conference...

U.S. officials threatened to impose tariffs on GM exports last year if the automaker did not protect worker rights after a contract ratification vote at the plant was marred by irregularities, including destroyed ballots.

In August, GM's Silao workers chose to end their contract with the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), which had held the contract since the plant opened in 1995 and is aligned with the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

Observers said this week's union vote went smoothly overall, although SINTTIA's leader Morales and another female colleague said they received personal threats in the days before the vote...

Cecilio, a worker who declined to give his last name, said he voted for SINTTIA and was not surprised the group won.

"For so long, us workers have been waiting for a real change," he said.