In Mexico, GM Is Still Humming
Violent strikes may make the headlines in the U.S., but in Juarez, Mexico, General Motors employees prefer to work assembly lines, rather than walk picket lines.
GM is Mexico's largest private employer with more than 50 parts plants employing 72,000 workers. And its workers are happy to have the work.
"Every day I thank God I have this job and I ask God to help me continue this job and keep on with it," says Dora Alvidrez, an electrical component inspector at the Juarez factory.
GM says productivity is high and the cost of doing business low. But employees here are paid far less than their U.S. counterparts. On average, Mexican auto-workers make $2 an hour. Most of them are under the age of 21, are non-union, and are cross-trained to do at least four different jobs.
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While $2 an hour isn't much, it's five times greater than the Mexican minimum wage of forty cents an hour. Which is what makes GM jobs the most sought-after in the country.
That's rankled U.S. unions who argue that GM is laying off American workers in favor of hiring cheaper labor south of the U.S. border. GM prefers to call this "shared production," a practice where parts created in the U.S. are shipped to Mexico for assembly. GM executives think striking U.S. autoworkers should accept the new business practice, and view their Mexican counterparts as partners, not rivals.
"This is no longer a U.S. versus Mexico or a Juarez versus El Paso situation. We're in 37 countries around the world, we're competing in a global marketplace. We've been here for 20 years now. We've been using billions and billions of U.S. built components all those 20 years," Hissam said.
Ultimately, America's loss is Dora Alvidrez's gain. Because of GM, she has been able to move into a neighborhood built by the company and the Mexican government. Today, she pays an $80-dollar monthly mortage with her husband for a modest house.
"I always had a goal to get a house with my own efforts and I've never missed a day on the job," Alvidrez said.
Autoworker unions continue to toe the hard-line on outsourcing, a practice the United Auto Workers calls "putting America last." But GM sees cheap labor as key to its continued survival in a global marketplace where borders, and the nationality of its workforce, mean less and less.