Telmex union rejects new company offer, weighs next steps

By Cassandra Garrison

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Telmex union representatives on Tuesday rejected the latest contract offer by the Mexican telecommunications firm controlled by tycoon Carlos Slim’s family, a union spokesperson said.

The Mexican Telephone Workers Union, known as STRM for its Spanish acronym, will meet on Wednesday to decide the next steps, the spokesperson said.

The offer, reviewed by Reuters, included bonuses for retiring workers in a bid to end a long-running dispute over benefits. It followed weeks of negotiations between the company and union after a two-day strike in July. Talks continued after Telmex made a proposal in August.

A spokesman for Telmex did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Telmex proposed that workers who join the company after Oct. 1 receive, upon retirement, an annual December bonus equivalent to 10 days of pay, as well as a 10-day bonus in August. The proposal document did not specify whether the August bonus would also be annual, or include further details about the payout of the perks.

Telmex, a unit of Slim’s America Movil (NYSE:), reiterated that new hires would get a pension worth 100% of their final net pay, determined by their job category, becoming eligible after 35 years of work and once they turn 65.

That sum would be made up of the pension paid out by the Telmex contract plus worker entitlements with state social security benefits, it said.

STRM, which represents 60,000 active and retired workers, began a two-day strike on July 21, the first in four decades, after talks with Telmex broke down over issues including salary raises, unfilled job openings and benefits for new hires.

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