By Cassandra Garrison
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A Telmex union spokesman said on Tuesday it had rejected the latest contract offer from the Mexican telecom company controlled by businessman Carlos Slim.
The Mexican Telephone Workers’ Union, known as STRM for its Spanish acronym, will meet on Wednesday to determine next steps, the spokesperson said.
The offer, reviewed by Reuters, included bonuses for retired workers in a bid to end a long-running dispute over benefits. This came after weeks of negotiations between the company and the union after a two-day strike in July. Talks continued after Telmex made a proposal in August.
A Telmex spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Telmex has proposed that workers who join the company after October 1, upon retirement, receive an annual monthly bonus equivalent to 10 days of pay, in addition to a bonus for 10 days in August. The proposal document did not specify whether the August bonus would also be annual, or include more details about the payment of concessions.
Telmex, a unit of Slim’s America Movil (NYSE:), confirmed that new employees will receive a pension of 100% of his final net salary, which is determined by their job category, and become eligible after 35 years of employment and once they reach 65.
That amount, she said, consists of the pension paid by the Telmex contract plus worker benefits with state social security benefits.
STRM, which represents 60,000 active and retired workers, began a two-day strike on July 21, its first in four decades, after talks with Telmex collapsed over issues including salary increases, job vacancies and benefits for new hires.
