• REVIEW: The renegotiation of Mexican collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) required under the new USMCA trade agreement is moving slowly with only a tiny fraction having been legitimized since Mexico enacted its landmark labor reform in May 2019.
• CONTRACTS: According to government data, 177 out of an estimated 580,000 CBAs have been legitimized under the new laws which require a secret vote by workers to agree with their terms. The process is required to root out corrupt unions engaged in so-called protection contracts.
• INCENTIVE: “The unions are just fake and the majority of contracts are (protection contracts) … There are no incentives for legitimization of (CBAs). It is not convenient for the unions to do so because they do not even know the workers”, said Pablo Franco, a labor lawyer.
•EXPECTATIONS: After a six-month pause due to the coronavirus pandemic, the renegotiation and legitimization of Mexican CBAs restarted in October and should be completed by May 2023. Mexican authorities expect that only 10 to 15% of CBAs will pass the new requirements.
