SAN LUIS POTOSI, Mexico — As many as 600 workers at Goodyear's new tire plant in San Luis Potosi staged a one-day strike April 24 to protest what they claim are poor working conditions under a contract negotiated without input from the workers.
According to Goodyear, production resumed at San Luis Potosi the next day and has continued since.
The World Socialist Web Site, a radical news organization, published an article on the strike May 8. Among other things, the news site claimed that:
- About 40 percent of the workers at San Luis Potosi walked out April 24;
- The employees at San Luis Potosi are paid an average of 210 pesos (roughly $2 U.S.) per day, and that the average worker stay at the plant is three months because of poor working conditions; and
- The Confederation of Mexican Workers negotiated a contract with Goodyear without a vote of the employees or any accountability to workers.
Goodyear said the WSWS article was riddled with inaccuracies, even as to employment levels at San Luis Potosi. The correct number of employees there is about 1,000, not 1,500 as the WSWS claimed, the tire maker said.
The April 24 walkout was not sanctioned by the union at San Luis Potosi, with which Goodyear reached a collective bargaining agreement in April, the company said.
"Goodyear prides itself on maintaining strong working relationships with our associates and the unions that represent them," it said. "We are engaging with plant associates and union leaders to understand and address any remaining issues."
The collective bargaining agreement at San Luis Potosi creates a union bargaining committee made up of union leaders and elected workers from the shop floor, according to Goodyear.
Wages and benefits at San Luis Potosi are negotiated through the bargaining agreement, and are competitive with most others in the Mexican marketplace, the company said.
The attrition rate at San Luis Potosi is quite low, and a wall-to-wall health and safety inspection by the Mexican government found no problems among the 600 individual physical aspects of the facility, according to Goodyear.
"Goodyear-San Luis Potosi is a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility," the company said.
Opening at the beginning of November 2017, the Goodyear plant at San Luis Potosi boasts more than 1 million square feet and has an annual production capacity of 6 million tires, according to the company.
