Maquiladora Closes in Matamoros, Leaves 500 Workers in Limbo

The company “Componentes Universales” of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, stopped operating overnight, leaving over 500 workers in limbo. The workers did not receive notice nor proper compensation, and are now guarding the gates of the site so that no equipment or materials are removed until there is an agreement. 

Maquilas in Mexico employ over 2.9 million people and represent more than 60 percent of the country’s total exports, according to the National Council of the Maquiladora and Manufacturing Export Industry (Index). Matamoros, and other key points along the border, has seen labor disputes in recent years, especially after the USMCA was implemented. The treaty allows authorities from the US and Canada to ask Mexico to review alleged violations of workers’ rights. Matamoros is home to over 78,500 workers and had not seen such a sudden closure of a maquiladora in a few years, reports EFE.

First shift employees at Componentes Universales, one of the oldest in the border municipality and dedicated to the manufacture of electrical components, arrived at work to find a notice that the maquiladora was no longer operational and guards prevented them from entering the facilities. Now, the various groups of former employees have organized to guard the entrances and avoid any movement of resources until they are paid a settlement. It was later reported that the Sindicato de Jornaleros y Obreros Industriales de la Industria Maquiladora (Union of Day Laborers and Industrial Workers of the Maquiladora Industry) received an email in from company leadership, which argued that it lacked the resources to continue operating. “Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to reverse the situation and, as a result, the bank has cut off our access to financing lines,” said Jesús Sánchez, Representative, Union Labor Commission, according to Joaquin López Dóriga. 

The union has already gone to the Labor Court to request seizing the plant until there is an agreement on the settlement for the workers and called for a negotiation on Friday, March 24. If there is no solution, the union called for a strike on March 30. 

“The manager says he is going to liquidate the people because he is going to close the company and that is as far as it goes,” says Leidi Laura Rubio, Delegate, Componentes Universales, according to EFE.