Supporting Freedom of Association in Mexico

Does Morena labour reform bill meet terms of USMCA Labour Chapter?

Apr 3, 2019 —

The renegotiated NAFTA (known as USMCA or TMEC) includes a labour chapter and annex requiring specific changes in Mexico’s labour laws. Meanwhile, proposals for implementing legislation for Mexico’s 2017 Constitutional Reform to the labour justice system are being debated in the Mexican Congress.

This chart, produced by MSN, compares Mexico’s obligations under the labour chapter and annex of the free trade agreement and provisions of a bill submitted to Congress by the new Morena government.

Will proposed bill undermine Mexico’s labour justice reform? (December 2017)

Dec 20, 2017 —

On December 7, two senators from Mexico’s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) submitted a bill to the Senate that, if approved, would undermine, if not nullify, the most important advances in the country’s Constitutional Reform to the labour justice system that became law only 10 months earlier.

Murders at Canadian mine expose lack of labour rights in Mexico (November 2017)

Nov 28, 2017 —

Striking workers (Photo: IndustriALL)

The assassination of two brothers, Victor and Marcelino Shaunitla Peña, has shone a spotlight on Mexico’s corrupt and anti-democratic labour relations system. The brothers were participating in a work stoppage by mineworkers with the support of community members against the Canadian-owned Media Luna gold mine in Azcala, Guerrero. The murders happened just as NAFTA negotiations were resuming in Mexico City.