Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, the Mexican city home to the largest number of maquiladora workers, export manufacturing plants, was the scene of a march this Saturday in favor of reducing the working day from 48 to 40 hours.
The march was convened in several cities of the country by representative Susana Prieto Terrazas, who is promoting an initiative that is now being analyzed and aimed at change the Federal Labor Law so the working day will be a maximum of 40 hours instead of 48 as it is now.
A contingent of about 100 people, workers and members of their families, set out from the Benito Juarez monument to the Municipal Presidential Building, a journey of about one kilometer, during which workers raised slogans reduce your working hours.
Nancy Vázquez Telles, one of the protesters, told the media that in addition to her 48 hours at work, she is asked to work overtime because there is very little time left for personal matters and to devote herself to her family.
In maquiladoras we always work about 49 hours, which is normal, but we have to work overtime to survive, and then everything goes up, right now the price of a kilo of tortilla has already gone up.
He said that he really hopes that in March Congress A Mexican seeks approval for a shorter working day in order to have higher quality of life for her and her family.
“We want to demand that MPs and Senators achieve this, our children need us at home, we neglect them greatly and they are the ones who suffer the consequences. We miss a lot with them because we work, because in fact we spend all our time at work,” the worker said.
initiative to reduce the working day from 48 to 40 hours It was considered in open parliament in the second half of 2023, and several days before it was voted on, congressmen delayed it to make some changes.
In that open parliament It was attended by academics, labor lawyers, representatives of the labor sector and businessmen, with the latter noting that the reform would put particularly small and medium-sized companies at risk if it were introduced suddenly.
“We ask the deputies to raise awareness, they work fewer hours and we work and this makes it fairer, we also deserve to spend more time with our families,” said Jose Cervera, another of the workers involved in that March.
In other countries they work up to 36 hours, we ask to reduce it to 40. It seems very unfair to me that if in other countries they work fewer hours, here we work more.
“This city is full of maquilas, and we get minimum wage, which we don’t get enough of. They make us work all day, we need those 40 hours and that’s why we fight,” said Miriam Delgado, another protester.
Mexican businessmen They argue that “now is not the time” to approve the reform due to the costs that employers will have to bear, and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said the issue deserves discussion.
Meanwhile, tycoon Carlos Slim argues that Mexicans need to work more to earn more.
If approved, the reform would have to be approved by Mexican lawmakers in the Senate and then approved by at least 17 local congresses in the Mexican entities to have constitutional implications.
EFE
Source: Aristegui Noticias
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
