Financialization, employment and labor relations in the automotive industry in Mexico

Abstract

This paper addresses the discussions of the heterodox theoretical framework to characterize the phenomenon of financialization in the automotive industry. The review guides the relocation of the motives, objectives and needs of the automotive corporations to move them from the productive to the financial sphere. It also allows to argue that the current conditions of employment and the labor relations system of the automotive production segment in Mexico are a consequence of the unfolding of the phenomenon of financialization driven by the automotive corporations in the global sphere. Empirical analysis is used to show that corporate strategies are aimed at increasing shareholder value, that is, increasing capital gains in financial markets, increasing dividend payments and the volume of returns. The consequences of the above is the increase in volatility and fragility of the financial sector, and the intensification of the change in power relations between capital and labor; in terms of the theoretical argument, in favor of capital and to the detriment of the working class.