MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Carmaker Audi’s Mexico unit and worker representatives have agreed to 9.4% salary raises for 2023, forestalling a strike in reaching a deal for one of the highest automaker wage hikes in Mexico in recent years.
The Independent Union of Audi Mexico Workers (SITAUDI) and Audi previously negotiated two options to raise wages for the plant’s 4,000 unionized employees in the central state of Puebla, but workers in December rejected both.
The new agreement replaced a proposal for an 8.4% pay increase this year, and removed an option for a series of salary hikes from 2023 through 2026.
The 9.4% increase tops a recent deal at Volkswagen in Mexico for 9% wage raises this year, which also followed worker rejections of earlier proposals.
The revamped deal “gives certainty and stability to the workers and their families,” SITAUDI said in a statement.
Audi said Tuesday evening that it had managed to avert a strike slated for Wednesday, and that the company prioritized the financial stability of workers.
(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
