San Luis Potosí Goodyear Workers Threatens Strike After Salary Increase Refusal

ByJared Laureles and Alexia Villaseñor

This article by Jared Laureles and Alexia Villaseñor originally appeared in the March 11, 2026 edition of La Jornada.

The Independent Union of Goodyear Mexico Workers (SITGM) has called a strike against the tire manufacturer for March 23, due to the company’s “intransigence” and refusal to continue negotiations for a 2026 wage increase.

Julio César Flores López, general secretary of the union that is part of the Mexican Workers’ Union League (LSOM), pointed out that 1,100 workers at the plant located in San Luis Potosí – which produces 15,000 tires daily – face a loss of purchasing power, due to years of salary increases below inflation.

Currently, while the general minimum wage has had a real increase of 116 percent in the last seven years, in contractual wages it has been only 15.2 percent in the same period, he indicated.

Therefore, he reiterated that the demand of the LSOM-Goodyear section is for a 15 percent salary increase for all categories of the pay scale; but the representatives of the American tire company initially offered only one percent, and later increased their offer to 4.7 percent.

This contrasts, he added, with the previous two years in which the Union League – administrator of the Collective Bargaining Agreement at Goodyear – had managed to negotiate this wage recovery, but now this dynamic is “broken”.

Flores López insisted that the salary scale must be reviewed, since there is a gap; for example, while an operator earns 630 pesos a day, a technician can earn up to 1,280 pesos.

The leader of SITGM pointed out that “the company unilaterally declared the negotiations concluded,” despite the commitment by the parties to continue the talks before the Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration (CFCRL).

He reiterated that “there has been a situation of indifference” from the company’s representatives in Mexico and said that this situation has already been communicated to Mark Stewart, president of Goodyear, the third largest tire producer in the world.

“This protest aims to secure fair compensation, as salaries have not been updated since 2026; we made a proposal to the company, but they have not responded with a serious offer,” he emphasized.

Francisco Retama, political advisor to the LSOM, pointed out that the salary negotiation for the pay scale is part of a “unique agreement” signed by the company and the union, within the Collective Bargaining Agreement at Goodyear.

He mentioned that this Wednesday they will have a conciliation hearing at the CFCRL and tomorrow another one before the Federal Labor Court of Collective Affairs, in order to reach an agreement that avoids the strike scheduled for March 23 at 7:00 a.m.

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