After five weeks and more than 17 conciliation meetings, workers at the Audi plant in Mexico went on strike after failing to reach an agreement on a salary increase.
The federal government, through the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare and the Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration, reiterated its willingness to maintain intermediation between the workers' union and Audi to help reach an agreement in the revision of the Collective Contract of Work and conclude the strike that began on Wednesday, Jan. 24.
Audi is part of the Volkswagen Group, the fifth largest vehicle producer in Mexico with around 350,000 units in 2023, a figure that represents 9.2 percent of the 3.78 million vehicles manufactured in the country. Data from the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA) places Mexico as the seventh largest producer of vehicles in the world.
Volkswagen is also the fifth largest vehicle exporter in Mexico. In 2023, it sold around 312,000 units abroad, 35 thousand more vehicles compared to 2022.
With the strike of more than 4,150 unionized workers at the Audi plant, around 750 vehicles of that brand will no longer be produced daily.
The workers' union asked the company for a 15.5 percent salary increase and the company offered 6.5 percent. This difference caused the strike that affected more than 20 thousand workers indirectly.