Contract negotiations “pressured” for a double-digit increase in the minimum wage

In the first quarter of 2023, 60% of the salary reviews of the collective bargaining agreements – unionized workers – are carried out, so it is expected that they will be “pressured” by the double-digit increase that was granted in the increase in salaries general and professional minimums in the country, labor specialists agreed.

Óscar de la Vega, partner of the firm De la Vega & Martínez Rojas, explained that “it is an important effort by the country’s employer sector to increase minimum wages by 20%, since they seek to improve the conditions of their workers; However, great care will have to be taken to avoid having an impact on the serious inflation that the country is suffering and that will necessarily have an upward impact on the negotiation processes of collective labor contracts, further complicating the creation of formal employment for the main employer in the country. What is micro and small business?

In the same sense, the labor specialist Jaime Bustamante explained that between January and March the main union organizations present their proposals to the companies, which according to projections, single-digit increases were expected; however, “the direct increase that was given to the minimums was set at 10%, plus a component called the Independent Recovery Amount (MIR) that only serves to help people with the lowest wages.”

Data from the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare highlight that at the federal and local level, up to September 2022, 7,848 salary reviews had been carried out.

Meanwhile, Germán de la Garza de Vecchi, leader of Labor Services at Deloitte Mexico, explained that since minimum wages are close to contractual agreements, negotiations must be very close to reality, “companies need to make strategies that allow them to know each sector and its behavior in the economy to agree on salary increases, as it is worth remembering that each negotiation must be submitted to the vote of the workers as part of the changes brought about by the 2019 labor reform”.

According to the Council of Representatives of the Minimum Wage Commission, as of January 1, 2023, wages will increase 20%, to go from 172.87 to 207.44 pesos per day; while those of the Northern Border Zone will go from 260.34 to 312.41 pesos per day, which will benefit 6.4 million workers.