The syndicate of the Nacional Monte de Piedad, the largest pawnshop in Mexico and the oldest financial institution in the Americas, accused this Thursday the directors of the company of blaming the workers for a possible bankruptcy and to present documents that are not based on real figures.
The employees denounced in a statement that the “Monte de Piedad administration has simulated technical bankruptcies to falsely blame the workers belonging to the union.”
The general secretary of the union, Arturo Zayún, affirmed that the Nacional Monte de Piedad presented expert opinions in the Collective Conflict of an Economic Nature, a legal process to resolve labor conflicts, “that supposedly point to a technical bankruptcy and a high labor cost of the collective contract“.
“However, these documents lack any legality because they are not based on financial audits or tax returns, as required by law. For this reason, it has been requested in the trial that said evidence be discarded, since a real analysis cannot be made if it is not based on real figures, ”he assured.
His statements come after the directors of the Nacional Monte de Piedad in Mexico, founded in 1775, warned that it would go bankrupt in 2027 if there are no changes to its collective agreement.
Directors of the private assistance institution argued that the current contract contains “ostentatious benefits” that cannot be sustained in the face of a “clear drop” in Mexico in the volume of operations of the garment sector, which consists of pawnshops in which people leave an object in exchange for money.
But the workers responded that “exaggerated claims are made against the union with the aim of damaging its reputation“.
The union asserted that the Nacional Monte de Piedad “achieved all-time highs in 2022 that prove that it is a private assistance institution (IAP) with healthy finances, as well as being profitable and that its current expenses do not represent any inconvenience for its operation.”
Although an IAP is a non-profit organization in Mexico, The employees maintained that the financial problem is in the Monte de Piedad Financiala popular financial company (Sofipo) derived from the pawn shop that does seek benefits or profits.
“(There is) a lousy administration of Financiera Monte de Piedad, in addition to using the IAP to finance Sofipo, a fact for which, as a union, we have opposed,” said union leader Zayún. The conflict has caused general concern in Mexico over the high profile of the Monte de Piedadwhose main building is of tourist interest in Mexico City, because it provides services each year to more than 3 million people in 320 branches throughout the country.
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