As U.S. vehicle supply chain accelerates, employee security worries stick around in Mexico

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Employees at a Lear Corp ( LEA.N) autoparts plant in northern Mexico that saw the worst recognized coronavirus outbreak of any factory in the Americas are now bracing to be sent back to work.

They simply do not understand when, and some stress it still might not be safe simply weeks after the pandemic struck factories in the commercial city of Ciudad Juarez, just throughout the U.S. border from El Paso, Texas.

For lots of, it’s a painful bind after the outbreak at Lear’s Rio Bravo plant that Lear said has actually eliminated 18 employees.

Although a return to their posts may be scary, a lot of are desperate to recover their full wages that Lear lowered when it shuttered the plant of about 3,000 workers. Part of a larger worldwide supply chain crucial to the U.S. car sector, they are also conscious that pressures from beyond Mexico might factor into the schedule.

” When the United States opens the automobile market, we need to go back,” said Dagoberto Galindo, 42, one of 10 Lear staff members at the Rio Bravo industrial park Reuters has interviewed because mid-April. He has actually worked 14 years at the factory that makes safety seat trim covers for Daimler AG’s ( DAIGn.DE) Mercedes-Benz and Ford Motor Co’s ( F.N) Mustangs and Explorers.

” I would go back for economic factors, due to the fact that I’m not going to have actually money left. But not due to the fact that I ‘d feel safe,” stated Galindo, who stated he is taking house just 65%of his salary while the plant is closed, making it more difficult to support his wife and six kids.

Galindo is one of countless workers at different U.S.-owned factories known as “maquiladoras” along Mexico’s northern border.

Corporate America has gained from lower salaries and laxer health, security and ecological strictures at