### Icon Aircraft Workers in Tijuana Demand Fair Severance Packages
Since the closure of Icon Aircraft’s Tijuana operations in June, former employees have been demanding fair severance packages that respect their years of service. The workers are set to attend a preliminary hearing on October 24 to reach a conciliation with company representatives.
Nayeli Serrano, a former Icon Aircraft employee, highlighted that over half of the 207 affected workers have worked with the company for around eight years. However, there are discrepancies regarding their service years since the company now claims their tenure should be counted from 2021, after a corporate change.
Back in 2016, the employees were hired under an outsourcing arrangement by Grupo Esparza Consulting SA de CV, but were rehired by Coproducción International de Tijuana SA de CV in 2021 after outsourcing was banned in Mexico. This has led to legal disputes as the employees’ service years were reset despite an agreement stating the new employer would bear previous responsibilities.
Icon Aircraft, headquartered in San Diego, California, filed for bankruptcy in the United States earlier this year and ceased operations, leaving the Tijuana workforce without salaries. As a result, the workers filed a lawsuit for unjust dismissal and unpaid wages, prompting a judge to seize the company’s assets in the Thomas Alva Edison industrial park.
Nayeli Serrano reported that the company has refused to pay anything since July, despite attempts to resolve the matter through Conciliation and Arbitration. Alejandro Arregui Ibarra, the Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare of Baja California, emphasized that although Icon Aircraft has pursued legal loopholes in the U.S. to avoid compensation, as a company established in Mexico, it must comply with Mexican labor laws.
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