Supporting Freedom of Association in Mexico

Workers vote in favour of union democracy at three Mexican factories

Mar 8, 2022 —

August 2021 vote at GM Silao. STPS.

2022 has begun with three important victories in favour of the rights of Mexican workers to freedom of association and collective bargaining, rights that have been strengthened by Mexico’s labour justice reform and the labour chapter of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

The first two wins involve workers at two separate auto factories who voted in free and fair secret-ballot votes in favour of women-led independent unions.

Independent Mexican union wins vote at GM Silao

Feb 4, 2022 —

Unions and other worker rights organizations show their solidarity with
GM workers near the plant in Silao. Credit: Arturo Left and Ulises Vidal

The independent union SINTTIA has won a precedent-setting vote among four unions competing to represent over 6,000 workers at the GM Silao pickup truck factory in Guanajuato, Mexico in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.

In the highly anticipated February 1-2 vote, 4,192 out of the 5,478 votes cast were for SINTTIA, 932 and 247 respectively for two unions linked to Mexico’s largest official union confederation, the CTM. A third union affiliated with Mexico’s second largest official union confederation, the CROC, only received 18 votes.

Legitimating collective bargaining agreements in Mexico: What have we learned to date?

Dec 17, 2021 —

MSN’s latest Briefing Paper on Mexico’s labour justice reform assesses the process for legitimizing existing collective bargaining agreements, a four-year process initiated in 2019. All existing CBAs in Mexico must be subjected to a vote for the workers’ approval by May 1, 2023.

The 31-page report critically examines how the votes are organized and implemented, why most have been in favour of existing CBAs, how government oversight could be improved, and the need for greater transparency in public reporting.

Mexico’s CBA Legitimation Vote Results: September 2019-April 2021

Dec 17, 2021 —

To better understand and analyze the process for the legitimation of existing collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) required by Mexico’s labour justice reform, MSN compiled a database of all contract legitimation votes for the two-year period when the Secretariat of Labour and Social Welfare (STPS) was charged with overseeing the process. The research published by MSN also provides publicly available information that is not easily accessible on the government’s legitimation portal.

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