More Updates

Mexico: New Voting Rights of Workers and Obligations of Employers

As part of MSN’s Catching Up on the Labour Reform series, MSN has published “New Voting Rights of Workers and Obligations of Employers under Reformed Federal Labour Law (LFT).”

The 5-page publication provides a brief description of the rights of workers and obligations of employers in various votes on collective bargaining agreements, union leaders, and union representation, as well as the rights of workers in minority unions.

Workers vote in favour of union democracy at three Mexican factories

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

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?

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

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.

GM Silao workers reject protection contract

Legitimation vote at GM assembly plant in Silao.
(Photo: Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social - Mexico)

In a precedent-setting test of Mexico’s labour justice reform, workers at the General Motors (GM) truck assembly plant in Silao, Guanajuato have voted to reject a protection contract between their employer and the Miguel Trujillo López union, an affiliate of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM). 

Report analyzes collective bargaining agreements in Mexico’s garment sector from a gender perspective

A new report by three Mexican labour rights experts, Inés González Nicolás, Gabino Jiménez Velasco and Andrea García, analyzes 68 collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) in Mexico’s garment industry from a gender perspective.

The report, entitled Collective Bargaining Agreements in Mexico’s Apparel Industry, as well as a 13-page summary, are available in Spanish and English.

Common Wage Violations in Mexico’s Garment Industry (December 2020)

MSN Briefing Paper prepared for the Mexico Committee of the Americas Group

Common Wage Violations in Mexico’s Garment Industry provides guidance to international brands and manufacturers sourcing and producing apparel products in Mexico on wage violations that are widespread in the sector and how to effectively address them.

Fighting COVID and defending workers’ rights in Northern Mexico

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Mexico hard. As of mid-November, the country has almost one million confirmed positive cases and over 95,000 official deaths. Since the pandemic started, maquila factories in the northern states experienced waves of infections among workers, with little protection provided by factory owners and management.

Do Mexico’s labour law reforms live up to commitments in USMCA?

On May 1, 2019, Mexico published its long-awaited reformed Federal Labour Law, which the Morena government promises will guarantee the right of workers to be represented by a union of their free choice and to have an active role in collective bargaining.

The lack of freedom of association in Mexico has been a major obstacle in negotiations for a revised North American Free Trade Agreement (now known as USMCA or T-MEC).

Workers cheated out of severance as Rintex closes factory

Workers and supporters protesting unjust dismissals, 2018

Three years after worker rights violations were first reported by labour rights advocates to Gap and other brand buyers, their Morelos-based supplier closed the factory rather than reinstate workers fired who had been attempting to form an independent union. The last remaining workers were dismissed in December 2018. 

Will Mexico's new government make advances on labour justice? (September 2018)

On July 1, 2018, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (known by his initials AMLO) and his party, National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), won an overwhelming electoral victory that creates a new political context for the implementation of the 2017 Constitutional Reform to Mexico’s labour justice system.

Debate on Mexican Labour Justice Reform Continues as Counter-Reform Bill Suspended (May 2018)

Today, MSN published its latest Update on the ongoing debate in Mexico concerning the implementing legislation for the Constitutional Reform to the country’s labour justice system.

The May 2018 Update deciphers a complicated series of events that led to the temporary suspension of a counter-reform bill that would have undercut, if not totally negated, the spirit and intent of the February 2017 Constitutional Reform.

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

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.

Joint letter from 14 clothing brands supporting labour justice reform in Mexico (July 2017)

On July 28, 2017, 14 international clothing brands and the Fair Labor Association (FLA) released a joint letter to the Mexican government declaring their support for a Constitutional Reform to Mexico’s labour justice system that could better protect workers’ right to freedom of association and to bargain collectively.

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