SITGM & Goodyear Reach Agreement on Wage Increase

ByJared Laureles and Jessica Xantomila

This article by Jared Laureles and Jessica Xantomila originally appeared in the March 28, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

The Independent Union of Goodyear Mexico Workers (SITGM) and the tire manufacturing company reached an agreement, obtaining a 5.8 percent salary increase for the benefit of more than a thousand workers at the plant located in San Luis Potosí.

This averts the strike, which was anticipated last week, after this proposal for the 2026 salary review was put to a vote.

The original demand was for a 15 percent increase. Therefore, although the increase is the “highest in the tire sector” and was approved by a majority vote, the union warned that “dissatisfaction persists” among the workforce, as the recovery of their purchasing power remains pending.

The union, affiliated with the Mexican Workers’ Union League (LSOM), indicated that various benefits are impacted, such as the 44-day Christmas bonus, the vacation bonus that ranges from 25 to 31 days (depending on seniority), the 13 percent savings fund, the social security fund, as well as the payment of the corresponding Social Security contribution.

He added that consideration should also be given to food vouchers, equivalent to 12 percent of the salary, payment for mandatory rest days worked, as well as the possible double payment for the days corresponding to the Holy Week period, if work is performed.

At Goodyear San Luis Potosí – which produces 15,000 tires daily – the 40-hour work week applies, so when a mandatory rest day must be worked, due to production needs, that day will be paid triple.

The LSOM-Goodyear section highlighted that the review was carried out by a commission made up of 10 representatives who were elected in the various areas of the factory, through the secret and direct vote of their colleagues.

More than 50 candidates registered in the process, and in order to carry out a serious negotiation it was necessary to call a strike against the company, due to its refusal to present a minimally acceptable proposal for the workforce, since initially the employer’s representation proposed a one percent increase and, until before filing the strike notice, it barely reached 4.7 percent.

“It is clear that the legacy of almost a decade of low wages, imposed by the company in collusion with the CTM, is an anomaly that must be corrected. In particular, the significant difference between the highest categories of production personnel and maintenance personnel,” SITGM pointed out.