“Before working at Pemex was almost synonymous with receiving what in the private sector could not be imagined,” says an industrial engineer who has worked at Pemex for 12 years and who today holds a managerial position in the main corporate of the state.
Before the entry of the Andrés Manuel López Obrador administration, the interviewee, who has requested anonymity, had among his benefits a mortgage loan, civil liability insurance, car financing and insurance for major medical expenses. Today, in addition to a drop in salary close to 20,000 thousand pesos a month, which occurred at the beginning of the six-year term -as in other sectors of the federal administration-, these benefits no longer appear in their benefits, although they still appear in their contract .
And the fact is that Pemex’s senior managers have stopped receiving a series of benefits superior to the law that they received before the start of the six-year term and that have now been forgotten, as part of the austerity policy promoted by the presidency. The labor liability has been placed as one of the major financial problems of the oil company, but so far the company has not made public changes to its payroll.
The only data that has been made public is a reduction of about 2,000 workers. At the end of 2019, according to the most recent information published by the company, Pemex had 122,646 occupied positions.
“The benefits as such still appear in the contract, because we have not signed new contracts with this administration, the previous ones are still in force,” the source said in an interview.
After the entry of the current federal administration, the first action was a salary cut of between 15,000 and up to 100,000 pesos, and with it a series of resignations from senior managers who did not accept the new conditions, sources explained. But so far, workers have not received any institutional communication notifying them of the cessation of benefits.
Employees of the state company have also stopped receiving a benefit under which they were granted a loan of up to 3 months of their ordinary salary, without it being subject to interest.
The big changes, say sources within the company, have occurred among the highest levels of command of the company.
The state one has 45 command levels, the great modifications in benefits have occurred after level 37, where managerial or decision-making positions begin.
“The rest in some way, that is the operative ones, those of us who drag the pencil or do the analyzes and do not make such strategic or leadership decisions, from level 37 down, we did not have major changes in our payroll and benefits,” he says a former employee of the company.
The company’s settlements have also seen a continuous delay, two former Pemex employees agreed who decided to leave the company during 2020 and that it took about a year to receive their last payment from the state company.
The administration of the national oil company has sent other signs of austerity to its employees: at the end of last year it circulated a letter among its workers in which it asked them for a voluntary contribution of their salary and Christmas bonus – which in the case of the employees of the company amounts to 60 days of ordinary salary. An action that was not mandatory for the total payroll, but that caused the termination of contracts of some employees, according to the sources interviewed.
Employees of PMI Comercio Internacional, a company owned by Pemex incorporated abroad and dedicated to the commercialization of crude oil and fuels, have also seen their benefits drop.
The workers of the company officially incorporated in the United States have not received their profits for 2020 this year – which range from 35,000 to about 200,000 pesos per employee, according to estimates by the company’s own workers -, without any official statement. from PMI.
The benefits that the oil company’s employees receive so far exceed the rest that can be found by workers in the branch in the private sector, according to a revision to the oil company’s collective contract.
Historically, labor liabilities have been one of the great burdens that has affected the company. In recent years, the federal government has made a series of capitalizations to the company to cover its liabilities, including those derived from employee benefits.
Industry analysts agree that a restructuring of the company’s workforce and employee benefits is necessary, but they assure that the modifications could fall short to improve the finances of the oil company, if this is not accompanied by a plan to increase its income and a shift towards more profitable activities, such as crude oil production.
Employees of PMI Comercio Internacional, a company owned by Pemex incorporated abroad and dedicated to the commercialization of crude oil and fuels, have also seen their benefits drop.
The workers of the company officially incorporated in the United States have not received their profits for 2020 this year – which range from 35,000 to about 200,000 pesos per employee, according to estimates by the company’s own workers -, without any official statement. from PMI.
The benefits that the oil company’s employees receive so far exceed the rest that can be found by workers in the branch in the private sector, according to a revision to the oil company’s collective contract.
Historically, labor liabilities have been one of the great burdens that has affected the company. In recent years, the federal government has made a series of capitalizations to the company to cover its liabilities, including those derived from employee benefits.
Industry analysts agree that a restructuring of the company’s workforce and employee benefits is necessary, but they assure that the modifications could fall short to improve the finances of the oil company if this is not accompanied by a plan to increase its income and a shift towards more profitable activities, such as crude oil production.
