Thread: US firms in Mexico object to boycotts

U.S. Firms in Mexico Object to Boycott
By JULIE WATSON, Associated Press Writer
1 hour ago

MEXICO CITY - The call is moving quickly through Mexican cyberspace: Boycott the endless array of U.S. companies and restaurant chains in Mexico to pressure Congress to legalize undocumented migrants in El Norte.

But American executives say the attack is misguided: As the largest private-sector employer in Mexico, the U.S. business community is doing more than anyone to provide much-needed jobs.

A quarter of Mexico's formal private-sector jobs with regular pay are provided by U.S. firms, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico. The nation's biggest private employer is Walmex _ the Mexican subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. _ which employs 140,000 people. Delphi Corp., the auto parts maker, is second with 70,000 workers.

And business leaders say the U.S. business community is one of the strongest supporters of legalization of undocumented migrants in the United States or guest-worker programs.

"This (boycott) is like shooting oneself in the foot," said Larry Rubin, the chamber's president. "U.S. companies have been the first to lobby, launching a huge lobbying effort for immigration reform. ... Why hurt something that is helping you?"

Under the motto "Nothing Gringo," the Mexican boycott urges people to shun all products from U.S. businesses on May 1, a sort of "Day Without Americans," timed to coincide with the "Day Without Immigrants" boycott planned by activists north of the border.

"That means no Dunkin' Donuts, no McDonald's, Burger King, Starbucks, Sears, Krispy Kreme or Wal-Mart," reads one e-mail making the rounds.

But even the activists are confused about which companies are U.S.-owned. Sears has been mentioned by boycott organizers, despite the fact that Sears' Mexico stores were bought by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim in 1997. And few organizers are mentioning Vips _ the chain of ubiquitous Mexican diners _ even though they are owned by Wal-Mart.

Many activists in the United States are telling people to skip work and school and not spend money on May 1 to demonstrate the migrants' importance to the U.S. economy as Congress debates everything from tightening border security to offering legalization for some of the estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the country.

It remains to be seen how successful the boycott will be in Mexico, where consumers flock to U.S. stores. May 1 is Labor Day in Mexico, and many businesses are closed anyway.

Mexican labor activists are pressing ahead, saying that in most cases, the wages paid by U.S. companies aren't enough to keep people from heading north.

The American Chamber's Humberto Banuelos conceded that starting salaries for unskilled workers at U.S. companies usually are Mexico's minimum wage of $4.35 a day. While many workers earn more, such as seamstresses who on average make $5.89 a day, even these wages pale in comparison to paychecks offered by the same companies north of the border.

A cashier at Subway earns about $189 a month in Mexico City. In Colorado, Subway cashiers make four times that _ $824.

Companies also often hire workers in Mexico for three-month periods to avoid paying health insurance or other benefits, activists say.

"Yes, we are aware that they are the largest employers in the Mexican republic, but they are paying crumbs," said Martha Suarez Cantu, coordinator of Alianza Braceroproa, a Mexican labor-rights group helping organize the boycott.

If the U.S. business community and Washington are serious about stemming illegal immigration, they should invest in economic development in Mexico, Suarez said.

The only way to stem immigration is to narrow the income gap between the two countries, agreed Robert Pastor, director of the Center for North American Studies at American University in Washington. He pointed to the European Union, where migration slowed after heavy investment reduced the income gap in its poorer countries.

Washington does not invest directly in job creation in Mexico. The U.S. Agency for International Development gave Mexico $31 million last year, but it went toward scholarships, tuberculosis and AIDS prevention, and providing financial advice to lending institutions.

Felix Boni, director of equity research at Scotiabank's Mexican brokerage firm, said raising wages in Mexico wouldn't necessarily help, because Mexico would lose ground to countries with cheaper labor, such as China and India. He suggested reforms to boost Mexico's productivity and job growth.

"U.S. aid is not going to do it," Boni said. "It doesn't make sense to pour money into something that's broken. Mexico needs to make structural changes."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Please, please please forgive me for what I am about to say - but I am going to say it...

THIS PIS*ES ME OFF!!!

American companies - multi-billion dollar industries paying workers $4.00 a DAY?? Then they turn around and tell us we are reaping the benefits when their retail prices haven't changed?

I'm sorry, but that really IS inhumane to those workers.

BUT.. this does NOT make illegal immigration right, either. We must stop it at our borders.

HOWEVER... the lists of American corporations who are now operating in Mexico and paying such wages SHALL NOW BE BOYCOTTED NATIONWIDE by their OWN CITIZENS HERE IN THE UNITED STATES - beginning with ME.

Word has GOT to get out about this!!

My fight against illegal immigration has NOT killed off my compassion for people when it comes to their being taken advantage of in a way such as this. It is wrong, wrong, wrong. And it has got to stop ... now!

THIS is something the news media should hear about for sure since they are on a roll with their pro-illegal-immigration kick anyway. If we can get them to publish how illegal-immigration is wrong BUT so is $4.00 a DAY which is causing some of the illegals to seek "greener grass on the other side of the fence" then we as a people have got to make things right in Mexico. Oust Vincente Fox!! Impeach George Bush!! Boycott big business in Mexico paying $4.00 a DAY to those people for a full days work.

Guess it's time for me to re-analyze my thinking slightly. Perhaps it IS time to forcefully overhaul Mexican government AND big American businesses who are taking advantage of those people there and in other nations.

Look for the list of those companies who are over there complaining bitterly about Mexicans joining their bretheren here on May 1st BECAUSE they are mis-treating people there in Mexico and BOYCOTT THEM along with businesses here who are hiring illegal aliens!!!

ANYTHING which stems the tide of illegal immigration - and it now seems that our corporations who took all of our jobs over there so they could take advantage of those people proves one more point - if we don't fix what WE have allowed to happen to those people over there, they will bring it back to us by the millions HERE.

(end of long-winded rant)

Kurt

"U.S. aid is not going to do it," Boni said. "It doesn't make sense to pour money into something that's broken. Mexico needs to make structural changes."

This is what we've been saying all along. Its Mexico's problem. Most of the Latino billionaires live in Mexico, but they pay no taxes. They tax the little guy working at Wal-Mart who's making $600/month.

The Government in Mexico don't tax themselves either. 45% of their citizens are peasants. It just boggles my mind why the peasants flocking over here don't realize that they are being dumped here because their Government doesn't want to spend money on industry and infrastructure.

We give them foreign aid, they take in estimated $26B per year from their citizens working here and sending money home. We buy oil from Mexico. They are number 3 on our list of countries we buy oil from. I'm sure Canada buys oil from them too. So what are they doing with the money coming into Mexico?

I'm glad we are getting down to placing the blame where it belongs..on Mexico's corrupt Government. They have apparently brainwashed their citizens to hate us just because. If I were living somewhere illegally and getting all the freebies I wanted, I would try not to be antagonistic.