Thursday, July 2, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: Workers Find Own Solution to Jobs Crisis
Gustavo Capdevila
- While corporate executives and world leaders rack their brains this week to come up with solutions for the global employment crisis, at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in this Swiss ski resort, a small Mexican trade union resolved the problem through an age-old formula: labour activism.
On Thursday, the National Revolutionary Union of Euzkadi Workers (SNRTE) celebrated the first anniversary of the recovery of jobs in the Euzkadi tire factory in El Salto, in the west-central Mexican state of Jalisco. The factory had been shut down three years earlier by its owner, German tire-maker Continental AG.
SNRTE leader Jesús Torres Nuño told IPS that he was pleased with the successes achieved by the union, and that he wanted to let people know that “it is possible to fight, and to win.”
The labour conflict in El Salto began when Continental tried to impose measures aimed at boosting productivity on its workers there.
The debates and discussions at this year’s annual WEF gathering, running Jan. 25-29, found a close link between the adoption of international productivity standards and the reduction in employment.
Juan Somavía, director general of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), confirmed to IPS the existence of the link between increased productivity and the drop in jobs.
Somavía pointed out that “Despite robust economic growth of 4.3 per cent in 2005, the global economy is failing to deliver new jobs for those entering the job markets.”
The employment crisis has taken on “mammoth proportions,” the ILO official warned.
Nearly 1.4 billion poor workers around the world survive on less than two dollars a day, and according to official sources, unemployment has grown by more than 25 percent and now affects some 192 million people, equivalent to six percent of the global labour force.
Somavía praised the WEF decision to place the question of job creation on its agenda this year, and urged the world’s business and government leaders meeting in Davos to “consider steps for tackling a worsening global jobs situation.”
The 971 workers represented by the SNRTE took swift action when Continental decided to close its factory in El Salto on Sept. 16, 2001, after the union refused to implement the new productivity standards.
The factory, which was founded in 1935 by a businessman from Spain’s Basque Country, was the leader in the tire industry in Mexico for years. In 1992, it was acquired by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. Then in 1998, when it was producing 4.5 million tires a year, Continental bought the factory.
As soon as it found out that Continental planned to shut down the factory, the union went on strike, demanding that the company be kept open.
Torres Nuño explained that although it may seem strange for the workers of a closed factory to go on strike, under Mexican legislation it is the only way employees can maintain control over their workplace and keep the owners from removing the machinery and equipment.
“For three years we went back and forth between Mexico and Germany, where we attended the Continental annual shareholders meeting and gained the support of two independent non-governmental organisations, the Food First Information and Action Network (FIAN) and Germanwatch,” he told IPS.
“Unfortunately, the German trade unions did not support us,” remarked the Mexican activist.
Nevertheless, Cornelia Heydenreich of Germanwatch and Martin Wolpold-Bosien of FIAN included the international solidarity committee of the Metalworkers Industrial Union, as well as the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation, among the organisations that contributed to the Mexican trade union’s success
In the end, the SNRTE reached an agreement with Continental which granted the 600 workers involved in the dispute a total of close to 12 million dollars in compensation.
In addition, the workers were awarded ownership of half of the factory, valued at roughly 40 million dollars. The other half was sold by Continental to a Mexican tire company, Llanti Systems.
“After being shut down for three years, the plant was considerably rundown, but we got it up and running again and last December we manufactured our 100,000th tire,” reported Torres Nuño.
The company is currently producing around 3,000 tires a day, which is a modest output in view of the plant’s capacity. “We’re far from the 12,000 to 14,000 units produced when the factory was at its peak,” he added.
In recognition of their successful campaign against Continental, the SNRTE and the two German NGOs that backed its struggle, FIAN and Germanwatch, were the recipients of the first ever “Positive Prize” awarded by the Public Eye on Davos.
The Public Eye awards, an initiative of the Swiss NGOs Pro Natura-Friends of the Earth and the Berne Declaration, are a tongue-in-cheek distinction used to draw attention to corporate irresponsibility.
This year’s “winners” of the Public Eye awards, announced this week in Davos, were Citigroup, for enabling tax evasion and money laundering; oil giant Chevron, for polluting forests in Ecuador; and Walt Disney, for violating workers’ and human rights at its plants in southern China.
“The Positive Prize is extremely motivating and we are glad that there has finally been some recognition given to a victorious workers’ struggle,” said Torres Nuño.
The victory over Continental was especially remarkable “because we had the Mexican government against us,” noted the trade unionist.
“In Mexico, the government is totally servile to the transnational corporations, and especially German companies. The number one source of investment in Mexico is the United States, followed by Germany,” he explained.
During the dispute, there was even a threat that if the strike was not resolved in Continental’s favour, other German companies like Volkswagen and Boge, an auto parts manufacturer, would also shut down their operations in Mexico, Torres Nuño recalled.
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