Minimum Wage

navegator wrote:
The Mexican Government establishes the minimum wage, they had established 3 zones, A, B and C in January 2014 the Zona A was 67.29 pesos and Zona B was 63.77, the Zona C has been dropped completely.

In January 2015 the Zona A is 70.10 and the Zona B is 63.77.

The Zona A is for areas that have a higher price for goods, Tijuana, all of Baja, Ciudad Juarez, Reynosa, Matamoros, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Acapulco, Mexico City and surrounding comunities, Publa, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Merida and Cancun.

Zona B is for the rest of the country, I obtained this from the official government publication, Comisión Nacional del Salario Minimo, Gobierno de México.

The following information comes from my niece, she has been in the Hotel and Restaurant business for more than a decade in México, the tips that the waiters receive are pooled and divided among the waiters and the bus boys, some hotels and restaurants lower the minimum wage of the waiters by half, and expect the tips to make up the other half.

Some hotels and restaurants that get paid with a credit card and the tip is included in the card payment, do not give the tip to the employee, be it the waiter, barkeeper or chamber maid, they pocket the tip.

It is better to hand the server, barkeeper or room service the tip in person, that way they know you and give you better service.

Some of the persons that you see on the street that (look after your vehicle) live of the money that the patrons hand them, they are not paid by anyone other than the gratuities that the folks give them.

Some of the women with small children (native) are actually persons that have come down from the villages, because they are starving, most do not speak Spanish, others are savvy beggars, you need to learn how to distinguish them, it takes time and practice.

Tips in Mexico are between 10% and 15%, I have always given 20% in person in cash and have had excellent service in México, the United States and all of Europe, some countries in Europe include a 20% gratuity in the bill, if I get one of those I do not tip since it is in the bill, I do let the server know if I liked or disliked the service.

Converting the minimum wage to U.S. dollars
70.10 Pesos = $4.97 Dollars
66.45 Pesos = $4.71 Dollars

This is at a conversion rate of 14.10 pesos to one Dollar.

navegator

Much of what you say above is true. Especially about how tips are handled, given and shared.

Your approach seems to be balanced and tempered by some experience. However I have to disagree again: The Minimum Wage comparison between countries is a useless exercise.

The ISSUE is Purchasing Power Parity or PPP. One poster referred to the Economist.s Big Mac rule of thumb That's what PPP is.

I could compare Mexico's Min wage with Cambodia's min wage but to what point? You learn nothing from that. Cambodia's average DAILY wage is somewhere around $2.00. However finding someone that actually earns that is tough. Most construction workers earn between $4 and $12/day. Hotel and restaurant workers make about $150 to more than $250/month. But the real issue is what can they BUY with that money.

And while most of the people in Cambodia, Laos, Nigeria, Cameroon on and on are much poorer than the poorest of Mexico it makes no difference because it is about What can be Purchased by the respective populations. Thus it makes no difference what the respective min wages are between Mexico and the US or Canada.

Tip appropriately within the cultural NORMS.

Tip ONLY when culturally acceptable.

And realize that your actions do have consequences for good and bad. And sometimes it's two edges of the same sword.