TIJUANA – After four months of protests, Baja California's white collar employees won the 8.5 per cent raise they had sought, averting at the last minute a blockade they had planned of the San Ysidro border crossing on Wednesday afternoon.

Union leaders met behind closed doors with Baja California's secretary general, Cuauhtémoc Cardona, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in state offices in the Río zone.

"Our actions influenced the governor's decision," announced afterward Martín Plasencia, the Tijuana leader of the union that represents a total of 19,000 state workers.

"Besides, President Calderón is planning to visit on August 20," he added, suggesting that the governor's administration may have wanted to avoid the headache a union protest could cause.

The state government issued a terse statement confirming the agreement, indicating that a maximum 4.9 percent raise would be applied to the paychecks of the 19,000 employees retroactively to May 1.

In addition, Plasencia said the workers will receive 3.6 per cent more in benefits, which totals the 8.5 per cent increase they sought.

Government leaders and Gov. José Guadalupe Osuna himself had said repeatedly in various public meetings that they would not yield to union pressure.

In one of the latest demonstrations, on Monday union members blocked the governor's access to Baja Film Studios, where he was going to join a delegation announcing a film project there. Afterward, union leaders announced they would block the border crossing starting at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

An administration leader, Francisco Antonio García, said that the state government's position was always clear, however, "there was always the willingness to reach an accord, which we finished on good terms, and which will allows us to raise the workers' salary according to inflation and the state's economic situation."

Omar.millan@sandiegored.com