GOM MAKES PUBLIC ITS PROPOSAL FOR LABOR LAW REFORM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MEXICO 000780 SIPDIS DEPT FOR DRL/AWH AND ILSCR, WHA/MEX, USDOL FOR ILAB E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB ECON PGOV SOCI PINR MX SUBJECT: GOM MAKES PUBLIC ITS PROPOSAL FOR LABOR LAW REFORM ¶1. SUMMARY: On February 9, the GOM finally made public its long awaited proposal for reforming Mexico's Federal Labor Law (FLL). In addition to presenting the proposal to the Mexican Congress the GOM,s Secretary of Labor also placed it on his ministry,s website thereby making it available to any and all interested parties. Mexico,s FLL is based on Article 123 of the country,s constitution and a large number of the GOM,s proposed changes would significantly modify what many labor unions and activists consider to be bedrock constitutional guarantees of worker rights. The proposed reform is a sweeping initiative in that it touches on such topics as how wages are calculated (daily vs. hourly), authorizes part-time and temporary employment (practices that at present are technically illegal),re-defining union autonomy with respect to internal affairs and modifying the right to strike. The GOM's Labor Secretary believes the reform could be enacted by the end of April and the proposal clearly has the support of Mexico's ruling PAN political party and that of the country's business community. However, it has been sharply criticized by organized labor and leading figures in Mexico's two main opposition political parties. The GOM's labor law reform proposal is unlikely to be enacted by the Congress without the support of at least one of Mexico's main opposition parties. END SUMMARY GOM PROPOSES LABOR LAW REFORM ¶2. On February 9, the GOM's Secretary of Labor, Javier Lozano Alarcon, presented to the Mexican Congress the Calderon administration,s long awaited proposal for reforming the country's Federal Labor Law (FLL). The proposal was also placed on the Labor Secretariat,s (STPS) website thereby making it freely available to any and all interested parties. The GOM's proposal to reform Mexico's FLL is a sweeping initiative that touches on numerous controversial labor issues, some of which have resisted significant legislative change for decades. In discussing the proposal Lozano stated that the GOM,s intent was to formalize in law the use of free, direct and secret ballot elections in cases where more than one union was competing to become the workers' legal representative. Lozano also highlighted such things as the elimination of "exclusion clauses" which have been used to compel an employer to fire a worker by expelling that ;individual from a union, incorporating the concepts of productivity and competitiveness into the FLL and a variety of steps to add greater flexibility to labor/management relations. The difficulty of implementing this type of change notwithstanding, Labor Secretary Lozano expressed confidence that the reform proposal could be enacted into law by the end of April. ¶3. Not surprisingly initial reactions to the proposal from labor activists who commented publically on the initiative focused on its more controversial elements. One of these was the proposal,s intent to mandate the publication of collective bargaining contracts. Some considered this to be a retreat from a constitutional guarantee of union autonomy and control over its internal affairs. Other sensitive elements included such things as instituting a change from a daily to an hourly wage, authorizing temporary employment (a practice that at present is technically illegal),instituting a modification to the right to strike and setting a six month limit on the amount of wages a worker is eligible for in a dispute with an employer. CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND OF MEXICAN FEDERAL LABOR LAW ¶4. Mexico,s Federal Labor Laws are derived from the country,s constitution, specifically Article 123, which establishes a set of principals and rules applicable to all laws regulating labor relations. Over time these rules have developed into an intricately detailed set of regulations primarily covering the obligations employers have towards employees. Article 123 and the laws derived from it establish such basic protections as the right to organize, bargain collectively and to strike. The FLL also covers such topics as union autonomy, mandatory profit sharing, compensation guidelines and the formation and regulation of unions and their activities. Any meaningful change to the FLL would require amending Article 123. The last meaningful change to Article 123 occurred in the 1970s and even that revision was largely dictated by ideas adopted in the 1930s by the more progressive elements of the then ruling, Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). ¶5. Discussions in Mexico over the country's FLL usually are between supporters of labor and union on one side and supporters of management and the private sector on the other. MEXICO 00000780 002 OF 003 When pressed, both sides will grudgingly admit that Article 123 was very much designed for a different time and very different social and economic circumstances. Consequently, when discussing the matter calmly, both the proponents of labor and of management often acknowledge that Mexico's labor laws are in serious need of reform. However, their definitions of what form that reform should take are vastly different. ¶6. For the proponents of the business sector, reform means greater labor &flexibility8 with that term being defined as the ability to fire workers more cheaply and easily. Mexico,s private sector has a point when it says that under current FLL it is difficult and expensive to fire workers. The historical reason for this is that since Mexico does not have unemployment insurance the FLL mandates a complicated and expensive severance package when an employee is fired known as "liquidation." Employers are often reluctant to hire new workers during good economic times because the FLL makes it very difficult to fire them if conditions change. Moreover, many of the FLL,s regulations tilt heavily toward workers and against employers. Labor activists often complain, correctly, that the FLL is not routinely enforced. Nevertheless, the FLL is Mexican law and the private sector must deal with it. ORGANIZED LABOR REACTS ¶7. Many labor unionists firmly believe that Article 123 forms the bedrock upon which all constitutional guarantees of worker rights are based and they are strenuously opposed to amending it. Mexico,s organized labor movement is a complex grouping of competing organizations which run the gamut from very good to very bad and frequently disagree with each other. Nevertheless, they were fairly consistent in describing the proposed reform as a total surrender to the interests of management over those of the workers. Many were particularly upset that the proposed reform does nothing to address the problem of &protection unions.8 Protection unions are labor organizations that exist only on paper and enter into collective bargaining agreements without the knowledge or consent of the workers they purport to represent. In such cases the workers have no opportunity to vote either on what union will represent them or on the contract that determines their working conditions. ¶8. Some of the points most strenuously objected to include one that would limit the amount of loss wages an employee could recover in a dispute with an employer. Such cases often take years to resolve. Under the proposed reforms, no matter how long a case takes to resolve, if the worker wins he would only be entitled to a maximum of six months back wages. Another point that labor unions object to is the reform proposal,s move to change how salaries are calculated. At present salaries in Mexico are calculated in terms of a daily minimum wage. The GOM,s reform proposes to have wages calculated on an hourly basis. Many labor unions oppose this believing it would undercut the 8-hour work day and the calculation of paid benefits. ¶9. A particularly controversial element contained in the proposal is a change that would modify the right to strike. Article 123 guarantees that right but in order to exercise it the FLL establishes several administrative prerequisites, the two most important being: (1) that only officially registered unions can call for a strike and (2) before a strike can be considered legal a union must receive prior approval of a strike notice from the appropriate labor authorities. The reform being proposed by GOM would require unions to provide the name of every dissatisfied worker before a strike could be approved. Labor activists claim that providing individual names in this fashion would subject workers to harassment and retaliation. ¶10. Regardless of where an organization may be on that gamut of good or bad nearly all voiced concern about the proposed reform elements dealing with union autonomy. Labor leaders consider this constitutionally protected autonomy to be the basis for independent unions. The majority of Mexican labor experts and a good portion of its political class strongly support union autonomy as one of the bedrock principles underpinning the growth of a more democratic Mexico. Union autonomy is viewed as one of the ways the broader human rights of freedom of speech and association are guaranteed. ¶11. In theory, union autonomy prevents government attempts to take over an organization intended to promote the economic well being of average Mexicans and using it for political gain. In practice, union autonomy in Mexico seldom appears to be about protecting human rights. More than anything MEXICO 00000780 003 OF 003 else, &union autonomy8 has come to symbolize one of the things that most clearly demonstrate the need for urgent labor reform; specifically union leaders who are accountable to no one. As noted above the laws derived from Article 123 provide a great deal of detail regarding the obligations of employers toward workers but it is all but silent with respect to obligations unions have toward their members. The FLL does not obligate unions to divulge any information whatsoever about their internal administration. Consequently, labor leaders closely guard such information claiming that the details of internal union administration are freely available to their organizations, membership since they are the only ones who really need to know. In reality, since the current FLL does not require labor leaders to release information about the internal workings of their unions, most of them do not do so. COMMENT ¶12. Although both sides of Mexico,s labor/management divide agree that the country is badly in need of labor reform, the two groups do not really agree on much else. Many of the GOM,s reform proposals, available on the STPS website, are logical and a case could be made that the majority (although certainly not all) are beneficial. However, the proposals would definitely require Mexico,s organized labor movement to operate very differently than it does now and there is little in the GOM,s initiative that the unions could point to as an example of what they are getting in exchange. The GOM,s reform proposal has the support of the business community and the country's ruling PAN political party. However, the PAN by itself does not have the votes in congress to enact this reform into law and it is unlikely to pass, especially by April, as suggested by Labor Secretary Lozano, without the support of at least one of Mexico,s two main opposition political parties. The GOM,s best hope for getting the votes it needs in congress is to make some sort of deal with the PRI but that may be difficult. Keenly focused on the upcoming mid-term elections scheduled for July, the PRI,s national party leader has already gone on record as saying the party will not support any reform legislation that is not first negotiated with Mexico,s organized labor movement. Some members of the PAN have privately questioned the political wisdom of proposing labor reform viewed as potentially harmful to labor unions and workers in the midst of a recession and in the run-up to elections. Depending on how negotiations over this proposal are conducted, the only way such a bill could pass in Congress would be if its more substantive, controversial elements were significantly watered-down. Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity and the North American Partnership Blog at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / BASSETT