Milenio: Hourly pay, regulation of subcontracting or outsourcing, paternity leave and flexible hiring and firing are some of the issues contained in the draft bill of labor reform. Lawmakers eliminated the changes affecting unions.
In a brief meeting of the Working Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, the chair, Carlos Aceves del Olmo, gave the 30 members the draft of the amendment to the Labour Act, which does not guarantee democracy and transparency in unions, and removes the proposals to modify strikes or the formation of new organizations.
Under the proposed changes, the unions must explain in their statutes "the number of board members and give consideration to the procedure for election, which will safeguard the free exercise of the vote". It does not define the method of voting nor mention the free, direct and secret vote. [Union elections are held in open assemblies by show of members' hands, making it difficult to not vote in favor of a leader.]
Regarding transparency of union resources, the bill eliminates the proposal sent by President Calderón that the unions submit their accounts to audits, and only establishes "rules for accountability" such as a time table for them or the ways an accounting review will be done.
The project includes the proposal by Calderon to limit lost pay for wrongful termination to one year, unlike the current law, which states that compensation should be covered for the duration of any lawsuit.
... It also proposes hourly wages reached through an agreement between employer and employee as long as it does not exceed the legal maximum hours for a work day and respects labor rights and social security [health insurance and pension], and that the income may not be less than that for a corresponding work day. [Currrently, many Mexican workers are paid on the basis of a "work day," rather than hourly.]
The proposal includes regulation of subcontracting or outsourcing companies, following initiatives of the Left parties, saying that a business cannot contract these services in substantive activities that constitute the main objective of the company, and may not cover the all the activities taking place in the workplace.
In terms of labor flexibility, it includes trial employment periods of up to 30 days and initial training contracts for up to three months, at the end of which an employer may terminate the employment relationship without liability if the worker does not prove to meet the requirements and skills needed for the position.
Moreover, the text proposes "to grant paternity leave of three working days with pay for working men, upon the birth of their children, and likewise in the case of the adoption of an infant."
Meanwhile, former deputy Gerardo Fernandez Norona of the Workers Party called for a blockade of the Legislative Palace of San Lazaro [where the Chamber of Deputies meets] to prevent the adoption of the bill on labor reform. The protest also involved former deputies of the left Agustín Guerrero, Balfre Vargas, Rigoberto Salgado, Rosendo Marin, as well as members of the UNT, the CNTE [National Coordinating Committe of Education Workers] and SME [National Electricians Union].
"Full respect"
Rosalinda Velez, head of the Secretariat of Labour, said the labor reform proposal fully respects Article 123 of the Constitution, on the right to strike and union autonomy, and denied that it threatens social security and the gains won by workers to choose their leaders, summon strikes and determine their rights. Spanish original