MEXICO - After a series of ongoing strikes and protests, government officials have agreed to raise the daily wages for tens of thousands of farmworkers in Baja California.
After negotiations ended on Thursday, farmworkers had agreed to a tiered compensation plan that would, in some cases, represent as much as a 50 percent increase in daily wages.
The new wage plan is as follows:
- Large farms: 180 pesos/day (approximately $11.50)
- Medium farms: 165 pesos/day (approximately $10.50)
- Small farms: 150 pesos/day (approximately $9.50)
Farmworkers had originally demanded the U.S. equivalent of $13 a day (200 pesos), but according to KPBS, a local San Diego news broadcaster, officials said last month that the federal government would make up the difference if growers could not meet these demands.
Aside from the pay increase, the agreement also provides farmworkers with an end-of-the-year bonus equivalent to two weeks’ worth of wages and overtime pay. The deal also includes social security benefits, social and economic development programs for the region, and labor ministry inspections carried out with a commission designated by the Alianza de Organizaciones Nacional, Estatal y Municipal Por La Justicia Social, the farmworker group at the forefront of the strike, KPBS reports.
The group represents up to 70,000 farmworkers in the San Quintin Valley, an area about 200 miles south of the border. Items including cucumbers, tomatoes, and berries are harvested in the San Quintin Valley.
According to KPBS, farmworkers will meet with growers and the government during the first week of July to follow up on the implementation of the agreement.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue to follow any further coverage of this deal as it happens.
