By Richard Marosi.
Baja
California farmworker leaders and the Mexican government reached a tentative
agreement Thursday that would boost wages and guarantee government-required
benefits to thousands of laborers, in an apparent breakthrough aimed at ending
the nearly two-month-long labor dispute.
In an
unprecedented move, Mexico's federal government agreed to pay part of the
workers' wages in order to meet their demands for a minimum daily wage of 200
pesos, or about $13.
"This
is an agreement that will help us construct an orderly, peaceful, respectful
and responsible way to provide a better quality of life for those workers who
live in the valley of San Quintin," Baja California Gov. Francisco Vega de
Lamadrid said after 18 hours of tense negotiations in Ensenada.
The deal
won't be formalized until a signing ceremony June 4 and some key negotiations
remain, mainly to determine the industry and government's share of the wage
increase. Some observers remained skeptical, noting that the language of the
agreement didn't guarantee that the workers' wage demands would be met.
Even so,
farmworker leaders struck a positive note as they were greeted by thousands of
cheering laborers upon their return from Ensenada to San Quintin on Thursday
morning.
The
announcement came after weeks of stalled talks and increasingly violent clashes
between protesters and police.
In a key
concession, the government agreed to ensure that every laborer in the region
200 miles south of San Diego would have access to social security benefits,
which provide pensions and healthcare. Some of the region's largest
agribusinesses for years have been denying the benefits, which are required by
law.
A
summary of the 13-point agreement distributed by the Baja California governor's
office says that government and industry representatives will try to reach
consensus on a minimum daily wage that comes "as close as possible"
to workers' demands.
Negotiations
between the government and industry representatives were continuing Thursday.
"To our knowledge, all parties involved have not come to a mutual
resolution," said Alfredo Arvizu, a spokesman for BerryMex, a major grower
for Driscoll's, the world's largest berry distributor.
Erik
Nicholson, national vice president of the United Farm Workers, which has sent
representatives to Mexico to monitor the discussions, said he is unaware of the
Mexican government ever agreeing to subsidize farmworker wages. "They have
not achieved the 200-peso goal yet," Nicholson said.
The
labor standoff, which began in mid-March with laborers blocking the region's
main highway to export markets, had been growing increasingly tense in recent
weeks. Dozens of protesters were injured Saturday by police firing rubber
bullets in clashes that were broadcast across the country.
Richard
Marosi. LA Times.
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