the MEXICO CITY – The mexican workers, for decades, have not been even minimally heard or considered by the trade unions: the contracts for them were signed by the executives of the organizations directly with employers. were, to all effects and purposes allies of their masters, and governments, away from workers, so as to be called contartos patronales, today the construction. The collective agreement for the protection of the employer is an instrument agreed with the goal to allow the owner of a company to avoid bilateralism and to establish conditions of work shaped only on its needs.
Many do not even know of the existence of the union. In many cases, workers are not aware of the existence of the union that “represents”, as well as of the existence of the collective contract that “governs” the conditions of their work. A practice so ancient as it is widespread. According to the calculations of academic experts, between 85% and 90% of the collective agreements filed in Mexico are collective agreements of protection of the employer. The ILO, an agency of the UN that defends the rights of the workers, has also been reported the structures and the regulations of bureaucratic and administrative in force have prevented, or at least hindered, the emergence of the independent unions and the democrats that could truly defending the rights of workers in Mexico.
The Reform of the Law. Now, the left government led by Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promised to drastically change this system, through a new law which came into force on the first of may of this year, which guarantees workers the right to decide who of them will represent. However, activists of workers ‘ rights, and underline that transforming a system the old-age and overcome the resistance of the employers and the superpower of the trade unions favoured politically, not to mention the deep mistrust of workers, it will be a long and difficult.
Put to the test the culture of freedom of association. “We lived in a corrupt system and control on the workers, and now we can only hope that this new law succeeds in his intent transformative. Says Victor Enrique Fabela of the Unión Nacional de Trabajadores, Sindicato de Telefonistas de la República Mexicana, which explains how “There are firms of lawyers who have visuuto for years behind the backs of the unions and corrupt employers who signed the contracts legal but illegitimate”, and continues “In Mexico, the culture of freedom of associazone has been put to the test by these abusive practices. This new law is a tool but not a substitute for the struggle of the independent trade unions and of the workers of this country.”
The diiffuse practices employers ‘ union-busting. anti-union practices remain widespread in many countries of Latin America. Layoffs and other measures to be discriminatory, anti-union are common. Now, according to the new law, unions must win the support of at least 30 percent of the workers of a company, the first to be formally recognized. The committees of conciliation and arbitration the local will be replaced by a national register and the specialised courts: all changes that are designed to eliminate the interference of the political parties. It will be a bill that provides for a period of four years in which all the old contracts, at least half a million – are being reviewed by the Ministry of labour and Social security. Many of these are not have never been approved, and this is confirmed by the words of the new secretary of labor, Luisa María Alcalde Luján.
The difficult consequences. The consequence of this bad system was the reduction of wages: the government itself has admitted that “The wages were kept very low because there were no counterweights in the negotiations”. In fact, according to a classification of the inter-american development Bank, the wages of mexican workers are low compared to those of many Latin american countries. A reality that has had an additional effect: that of encouraging transnational companies, especially from north america, to relocate in Mexico to take advantage of by the unions docile, and by low wages. As explained by Victor Fabela: “social dumping is a practice of unfair competition on the basis of which companies can reduce costs by exploiting the low wages and the bad working conditions of a Country. This practice is called “dumping”, because it is believed that the companies that do sell below the costs that they should support you if their workers have working conditions which are in force in the Countries economically more strong.”
The solution is in the covenants. And’ important participation in international organisations such as the international Confederation of trade unions (ITUC), the Confederation of workers of the Americas (CSA) and the global unions global UNI, IndustriAll and maintain alliances with other international unions, such as the central norteamericana AFL-CIO, UNIFOR de Canadá, CUT de Brasil, DGB de Alemania, CTA de Argentina, and the ILO. In short, concludes Victor Fabela “we must continue the fight”.
“The Republic will fight always in defense of the freedom of information, to its readers and to all those who have at heart the principles of democracy and civil coexistence”
Carlo Verdelli SUBSCRIBERS TO REPUBLIC © Reproduction reserved Today on Gualtieri: “the presence of The State in the economy should not be taboo. It also serves to improve the functioning of the market” Government, now the Country deserves more in The line of the Highways don’t Count. “Review of the concessions is the right of the government,” The company closes in the fort: “We are ready to defend ourselves” “Rates went up much more than inflation”
the Republic
