'They prefer the economy to keeping human beings alive' - workers protest Mexican factory reopenings

Record ID: 1553130

  • Title: 'They prefer the economy to keeping human beings alive' - workers protest Mexican factory reopenings
  • Date: 19th May 2020
  • Summary: CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO (MAY 18, 2020) (REUTERS) FACTORY WORKERS CHANTING AT PROTEST AGAINST RE-OPENING OF FACILITIES VARIOUS, PROTESTERS WALKING DOWN STREET OVERHEAD VIEW OF PROTESTERS WALKING VARIOUS, PROTESTERS WALKING DOWN STREETS VARIOUS, PROTESTER HOLDING SIGN READING (Spanish) "JUSTICE FOR THE PEOPLE OF REGAL" (REFERRING TO EMPLOYEES OF FACTORY WHO DIED OF COVID-19) V
  • Embargoed: 2nd June 2020 19:11
  • Keywords: Mexico Protest U.S. border companies coronavirus demonstration factory maquilladores opening pandemic workers
  • Location: CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO
  • City: CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001CELLF0N
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Factory workers in Ciudad Juarez, a border city where many assembly plants are located, protested the reopening of their workplaces on Monday (May 18), even as Mexico made plans to lift restrictions on broad swaths of its economy amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
    Mexico issued guidelines Monday for restarting operations in the automotive, mining and construction sectors, pushing ahead with reopening the economy despite a growing national toll from the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns about unsafe work sites.
    Factory workers protesting in Ciudad Juarez said they were opposed to the reopenings. "They prefer the economy to keeping human beings alive and healthy. They prefer to sell rather than acting according to the health of all of us that live here," said local factory worker Maria, who declined to give her last name.
    With Mexico's coronavirus death toll having surged past 5,300, and with 51,633 known cases as of Monday, officials are wrestling with how to restart key industries without triggering a greater spread of the highly contagious respiratory virus.
    The moves to loosen restrictions follow growing pressure from the United States to reopen factories that are vital to supply chains of U.S.-based businesses, especially in the vast automotive sector.
    Mexico sends 80% of its exports to the United States and became its biggest trade partner last year, with bilateral commerce worth over $600 billion. Mexican auto output all but evaporated in April, plunging by 99%.
    (Production: Jose Luis Gonzalez, Rodolfo Pena Roja)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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