Labour rights in time of crisis

In the Mexican crisis, the workers save the electronics industry but in return labour conditions worsen.

What has happened to workers in the supply chains of Nokia, Philips, Panasonic, IBM, HP, Lenovo, Sanmina, Jabil and Flextronics in Mexican factories during 2008 and 2009? 6’000 jobs lost, massive dismissals, a 10% reduction in wages, an increase in temporary three-month and monthly contracts for workers in the industry from 40 to 60%.

And what has happened to the companies’ production in the same years of crisis? In the last quarter of 2009, Sanmina reported growth of 20% with regard to their numbers in 2008; Nokia has recovered the number of workers they lost in 2008, but now with 75% temporary workers contracted by Manpower; Flextronics has announced 1’000 new jobs and Jabil increased their workers 136%; and HP and IBM announced new investment projects in 2010.

In the worst year of the crisis, the companies have won and the workers have lost. This third report of CEREAL, “Labor rights in a time of crisis” analyzes this paradox: ultimately, who has paid the cost of the crisis?