UPDATE ON <i> Maquiladora</i> s : Worries Over Labor Appear to Have Subsided in Tijuana

The shock waves caused by the labor strife in maquiladora operations in Reynosa in northeast Mexico rippled across the Tijuana maquiladora scene over the summer, striking fear in the hearts of local boosters who have long touted Tijuana’s relative absence of labor unions as one of the region’s principal selling points.

But the ripples apparently subsided, judging from the continued strength in applications for maquiladora permits from U.S. and other foreign manufacturers. New permits are running nearly as strong as last year, when maquiladoras in Tijuana, Tecate and Ensenada increased a record 45% to 579 plants at year’s end.

Jose Luis Ascolani, the local delegate in the federal Secretary of Commerce and Finance (SECOFI) office in Tijuana, which is in charge of granting maquiladora permits, said his office has averaged 11 new permits a month so far this year, not to mention 15 ampliaciones, or expansions, per month. Total maquiladoras in the Tijuana region now are pushing 700. Employees total 64,000 in the three cities, up from 53,000 at the end of 1988.

Ascolani said the strongest current demand for permits is coming from U.S. woodworking companies, from furniture manufacturers to picture-frame makers, who now number 110 plants, or more than 15% of all maquiladoras in the Northern Baja California region.

One of the highlights of the year so far, from Ascolani’s point of view, was the opening in August of a maquiladora by Scripto Tokai, Japanese manufacturer of pens and disposable lighters. The plant, which employs 400, is the largest new maquiladora to have set up shop this year. Payroll is growing rapidly and is scheduled to cover 1,200 workers by December, he said.

The Scripto Tokai plant’s work force, which has appeared virtually overnight, illustrates that labor is still abundant in Tijuana, Ascolani said.

“The problem in Reynosa grew out of a power struggle among the labor leaders there and had nothing to do with Baja California,” he said. “Tijuana is quiet, and there is a lot of work.”

Still, some American companies are not taking any chances. One Palm Springs insurance company that writes policies for U.S. companies to insure them against production losses at maquiladoras, reported a significant increase in new policies in the aftermath of the Reynosa strikes.

Ascolani’s SECOFI office recently presented awards for special recognition to several companies that operate Tijuana maquiladoras. Among those cited are:

- Mattel, for maintaining Tijuana’s largest maquiladora payroll. Mattel employs 3,600 during its peak toy-making season in the weeks before Christmas, and 2,800 during the balance of the year.

- Sanyo, the Japanese consumer electronics giant, for making the largest capital investment in a Tijuana maquiladora . Sanyo has invested $300 million, Ascolani said, in half a dozen plants in Tijuana totaling more than 1.5 million square feet of manufacturing space. Sanyo assembles a variety of products there, from electric fans and refrigerators to televisions and blenders.

- Kyocera, a semiconductor ceramic-wafer manufacturer, for technology innovations in new chips.

Solar Turbines, a maker of oil-field turbine engines, for technology transfer, or the maquiladora whose technology most benefits Mexican technological development.

- Ocean Designs, a furniture manufacturer, for administrative efficiency. Turnover at the Ocean Design plant is the lowest among Tijuana maquiladoras , Ascolani said.