Walkout Continues in Mexico Volkswagen FactoryThe walkout in Volkswagen's Mexican unit remained unsolved Friday as executives and union workers had no agreement late on Thursday, the 13th day of the strike.Labor Ministry officials held separate day-long meetings with the company and the unions, which ended Thursday without advances. The company had warned that the strike could affect foreign investment in Mexico. The unions demand a 16 percent wage increase, whereas the German company just offers an 8.5 percent hike, which was turned down Tuesday in a worker-assembly. The workers insisted they would not accept a less than two- digit increase. The Volkswagen factory in Puebla state, central Mexico, has 16, 000 workers, of whom 12,000 are unionized. The German auto maker estimated that the walkout has caused an economic loss as much as US$360 million. Access to the factory has been blocked by workers. The National Worker Union, one of the most important independent trade unions, called for demonstrations on Saturday, showing solidarity with Volkswagen employees and protesting the policy of President Vicente Fox, who is to deliver his State of the Union Address the same day. |
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