General Motors agreed to give hourly workers in Mexico an 8.5% wage increase as part of an agreement with a new union.

GM Mexico has agreed to the increase in wages at its Silao Assembly Plant in central Mexico, said Teresa Cid, GM Mexico spokesperson.

It is one of the highest recent raises in Mexico's auto industry, appearing to top those at other automakers, according to a Reuters report. It is also the first significant raise since the start of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), often dubbed the new NAFTA. Its goal is to narrow the wage gap between U.S. and Mexican workers.

Workers at Silao will vote on the agreement later this month. The agreement also includes that GM will pay 14% in food coupons, give a mandatory day off for Christmas Eve and provide an increase on the production bonus that was already granted by the Silao plant, Cid said.

The new contract also stipulates that the automaker and the union will "form working groups to negotiate work schedules; a protocol for dealing with sexual harassment cases; and a program to push back against inflation in the coming years," Reuters reported. The contract lasts two years, but salaries are open for review in a year.

In February, the union, called the National Independent Union of Workers of the Automotive Industry, or SINTTIA, won the vote to represent about 6,500 workers at GM's plant, located about 200 miles north of Mexico City. GM has operated in Mexico for 86 years.

A spokesperson from SINTTIA...

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