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So, honest question: is that a lot? The workers are asking for the top band to increase by 5.3%, from 114 pesos to 120. They are currently making 163% of the

by venning 11y ago

So, honest question: is that a lot? The workers are asking for the top band to increase by 5.3%, from 114 pesos to 120. They are currently making 163% of the minimum national wage of 70 pesos. I don't have any feel for how livable that is in Ciudad Júarez.

gaastonsr 11y ago
Don't measure by minimum wage. By that measure everything is going to look like a huge rise. Despite Mexico being cheaper than USA. About 50% cheaper I would say. $120 pesos A DAY (about $7.05 dollars) is an small amount to live with.
- venning 11y ago
  I don't mean to imply that minimum wage is a valid measure, it's just one of the only measures provided in the article. Perhaps, in some places, 160% of minimum wage is decent. My interest is: "What is a lot in (that part of) Mexico?" In Malawi, for example, $7/day would be life changing. Despite being American, I know far more about Africa and Europe and some parts of Asia than I do my own neighbors to the south and I would like to know more.
  - guelo 11y ago
    Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world. Mexico is nowhere near that poor. It's sometimes called a "upper middle income" country along with the likes of Brazil and China.
    - venning 11y ago
      Yeah. That's sort of my problem. I know a good deal about Malawi and very little about Mexico. Do you know what a passable wage looks like in Mexico? Exchange rates, which are the implicit basis of this article's concern, is a much worse metric than minimum wage.
deleted 11y ago
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danny_taco 11y ago
I would consider that salary as extra income for multiple earners in a household (You wouldn't be able to rent any decent place with that amount per day). Although the cost of living in Juarez is way way below than most places in the US, the cost of utilities in Juarez is unreasonably high. I couldn't find a lot of online resources to support this though. https://goo.gl/beC6LK https://goo.gl/beC6LK I grew up in Juarez and despite my parents making at least ten times that amount between the two of them, I would say we were only considered middle lower class for a household of four people. The city has grown over the past 30 years considerably due to the manufacturing industry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maquiladora https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maquiladora Most of the jobs provided by the maquiladora industry are low wage jobs such as this one that attract a lot of struggling families or individuals from other Mexican states. Some of my old friends still live in Juarez given that they work as industrial engineers and their salary ranges between $30,000 - $40,000 USD. Just enough to buy a 2-3 bedroom home in a decent area of town. This is a comparatively high salary for the region as well.
- venning 11y ago
  Hmm, that's helpful, thank you.
PhasmaFelis 11y ago
> So, honest question: is that a lot? I know you're asking if it's a lot for the workers, but the more relevant question is whether it's a lot to Lexmark, to which the answer is: it's thirty-five cents. So, no.
- venning 11y ago
  Yeah, that's a good point. At 120 workers, that's still under $10k/year. That seems to support the idea that this is more about unionization than raw pay.

by venning 11y ago

gaastonsr 11y ago

Don't measure by minimum wage. By that measure everything is going to look like a huge rise. Despite Mexico being cheaper than USA. About 50% cheaper I would say. $120 pesos A DAY (about $7.05 dollars) is an small amount to live with.

venning 11y ago
I don't mean to imply that minimum wage is a valid measure, it's just one of the only measures provided in the article. Perhaps, in some places, 160% of minimum wage is decent. My interest is: "What is a lot in (that part of) Mexico?" In Malawi, for example, $7/day would be life changing. Despite being American, I know far more about Africa and Europe and some parts of Asia than I do my own neighbors to the south and I would like to know more.
- guelo 11y ago
  Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world. Mexico is nowhere near that poor. It's sometimes called a "upper middle income" country along with the likes of Brazil and China.
  - venning 11y ago
    Yeah. That's sort of my problem. I know a good deal about Malawi and very little about Mexico. Do you know what a passable wage looks like in Mexico? Exchange rates, which are the implicit basis of this article's concern, is a much worse metric than minimum wage.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

danny_taco 11y ago

I would consider that salary as extra income for multiple earners in a household (You wouldn't be able to rent any decent place with that amount per day). Although the cost of living in Juarez is way way below than most places in the US, the cost of utilities in Juarez is unreasonably high. I couldn't find a lot of online resources to support this though. https://goo.gl/beC6LK https://goo.gl/beC6LK I grew up in Juarez and despite my parents making at least ten times that amount between the two of them, I would say we were only considered middle lower class for a household of four people. The city has grown over the past 30 years considerably due to the manufacturing industry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maquiladora https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maquiladora Most of the jobs provided by the maquiladora industry are low wage jobs such as this one that attract a lot of struggling families or individuals from other Mexican states. Some of my old friends still live in Juarez given that they work as industrial engineers and their salary ranges between $30,000 - $40,000 USD. Just enough to buy a 2-3 bedroom home in a decent area of town. This is a comparatively high salary for the region as well.

venning 11y ago
Hmm, that's helpful, thank you.

PhasmaFelis 11y ago

> So, honest question: is that a lot? I know you're asking if it's a lot for the workers, but the more relevant question is whether it's a lot to Lexmark, to which the answer is: it's thirty-five cents. So, no.

venning 11y ago
Yeah, that's a good point. At 120 workers, that's still under $10k/year. That seems to support the idea that this is more about unionization than raw pay.