The Independent Committee of Labor Experts of the United States, presented the follow-up and evaluation report on the implementation and fulfillment of the labor reform in Mexico, whose recommendations point to modifications in the protocol to legitimize collective bargaining contracts that, if accepted, could lead to its annulment if irregularities are detected in the union voting processes.
In a document of more than 50 pages, the labor experts, who have the power to present the analysis to the American Labor Agency and the United States Congress – one year after the entry into force of the T-MEC and as established in said agreement – stated that, despite the fact that the Mexican labor reform has been in force for two years, it has not been possible to stop the existence of protection contracts, in a country that has more than 50 million workers as an economically active population and only four million unionized workers.
After noting that although they have the power to declare Mexico’s non-compliance in labor matters, they decided to present a series of recommendations, and, taking as reference the cases in which the rights of General Motors and Tridonex workers were denied that they derived in a complaint between nations; They pointed out that the legitimations of the contract should be organized by sector, establishing a schedule determined by the government and training workers so that they know that they will make a decision through free, secret and direct vote.
They also asked that it be guaranteed that all workers receive a copy of the collective contract before the consultation; demand that the legitimation votes be supervised by government representatives in order to guarantee equity, secrecy and protection of all rights.
In addition to creating a safe procedure for workers to report serious violations; and the most important thing that is requested in the report is that if serious irregularities are detected by the incumbent union during or before the consultation, the contract is annulled.
Bad precedent
The Committee of Experts viewed with concern the cases of General Motors and Tridonex (the two complaints that the United States government presented to Mexico); Among other reasons because even the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) refused to investigate the complaints of current and dismissed workers from the factory and other irregularities before and during the process of legitimizing the collective contract, including dismissals, harassment and interference in voting by union leaders and company executives; as well as threats to workers that they would lose the benefits of the collective agreement if they voted against it.
On this point in particular, the Committee of Experts – made up of 12 members and which had presented a preliminary version of the report last December – highlighted that there has not been enough government supervision to manage the serious risks inherent to legitimations; in addition to the fact that it is necessary to reinforce the inspection.
As part of the conclusions, the Committee stated that it is essential to focus the implementation in the priority sectors of the T-MEC; Therefore, the United States government should advocate for a reorganization of the states where the Conciliation Centers are created; Well, in states like Nuevo León and Tamaulipas they must advance their implementation date, if not all; at least the opening of the Federal Labor Courts.
The foregoing, because it observes that the voting process is very slow, even if not all the collective contracts were legitimized as estimated by the labor authority, who has indicated that up to 85% of the contracts (500,000) could not be ratified by the workers , would require carrying out about 125 legitimations per day, every day, from now until May 2023, the date on which the term ends.
The extensive report also addresses the impact that the outsourcing reform has on the legitimation process; as well as announces that of the 12 members of the Committee of Experts there are four (Kyle Fortson, Stefan Marculewicz, Philip Miscimarra and Charlotte Ponticell) who do not 100% agree with the report, as they consider that it exceeds their powers.
Even in the case of the Committee’s recommendation to have 40 million dollars allocated to unions in the United States and other participants in union coalitions for the purpose of “promoting cross-border organizing by unions in Mexico and the United States”.
It should be noted that this report will be reviewed by the authorities of the United States government, who must issue an opinion.
Recommendations to Mexico
- End violence against workers. The Inter-secretarial Labor Committee of the T-MEC must do what is necessary to assist Mexico in the eradication of workplace harassment, threats, arrests, physical violence and death of workers who exercise their labor rights.
- Promote transparency. You must ensure that all collective agreements are available on the Internet for workers, and you must ensure that they also have a printed copy of it, as well as your union’s statutes and financial reports.
- Focus the implementation of priority sectors. Specifically in the states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, the implementation date of the new labor registry and justice bodies should be brought forward to October of this year, due to the industrial importance of these entities.
Reform the process of legitimation of contracts. Five points are proposed here:
- Organize the legitimation processes by sector, following a calendar determined by the government.
- Ensure that workers receive a printed copy of their employment contract prior to voting.
- Require that the vote be conducted by government representatives with the authority to investigate and correct violations.
- Create a safe procedure for workers to report violations of their rights.
- When there is evidence of serious violations by the union holding the contract during or before the vote, the contract should be nullified.
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