The presence of trade union organizations in the number of collective labor contracts continues to belong to the CTM (Confederation of Workers of Mexico), according to the records of the Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration; while recently created centrals, as is the case of the Autonomous Confederation of Workers and Employees of Mexico (catem), led by Pedro Haces, barely reports four contracts.
The labour reform in 2019 established as a mandatory requirement that -in four years- all unions that have a collective agreement in force submit them to the approval of the workers, in order to end the protection contracts, those that the workers did not know about.
The data reveals that more than 120,000 contracts were concluded and 17,000 were legitimized with the free, secret and direct voting process.
Thus, the number of contracts that are attributed to the Confederation of Workers of Mexico (CTM) is 2,369; where the Union of Workers of the Bottling Industry of Soft Drinks, Natural Waters, Beers and Bottled Beverages in General, Similar and Related of the Mexican Republic stands out with 246 legitimate contracts, out of a total of 422 union organizations.
Meanwhile, the Confederation of Workers and Peasants (CROC) with 81 unions legitimized 1,076 collective contracts in these four years; being the National Union “President Adolfo López Mateos” of Workers and Employees of Commerce in General and Private, Similar and Related Schools of the Mexican Republic, which legitimized 562 contracts.
In the case of the Regional Mexican Workers Confederation (CROM) has 71 unions; 329 legitimate contracts and the National Union CROM of Workers and Employees of Commerce, Stores, General Offices and Private Schools is the one that reported the highest number of voting processes, legitimizing 117 contracts.
In contrast, the Autonomous Confederation of Workers and Employees of Mexico only has a single union affiliated to this labor union led by Pedro Haces, the name is the National Autonomous Union of Workers and Employees of the Cultural, Sports, Vacation, and Gastronomic Entertainment Industry. , Services and Commerce in General, Office Employees and Professionals and their Derived Activities, who made four legitimations in the company Organización de Juegos de Guadalupe SA de CV
Meanwhile, another of the plants that have been in our country for decades is the Confederation of Workers and Peasants (CTC), currently led by Abel Domínguez Azuz, whose data from the Federal Center only show that he has 11 unions and 55 legitimized collective labor contracts; of which, 12 were carried out by the Union of Workers of the Metallurgical and Similar Industry of the State of Mexico.
Promotion of Independent Unionism
In this regard, the leader of the CROC, Isaías González Cuevas, commented that since there are 120,000 contracts that will be terminated, they have launched a strong campaign to promote independent unionization.
“At this moment it is about having workers with a union, it does not matter that it is not in the CROC, what matters is that they organize and have a union, that collective bargaining is not lost, if they do not want to belong to any central workers are within their rights”, said the leader.
For their part, independent unions, which emerged after contracts that were not legitimized, stated that “it is necessary for workers to organize themselves and not be afraid of losing the current collective agreement, first because it was signed behind their backs, and then because the employer must respect all the rights, all the benefits”, commented Joaquín Guzmán, general secretary of the Independent Union of Workers of Saint Gobain.
For its part, the Center for Labor Research and Union Advice (CILAS) in its “Balance 3 years after the 2019 Labor Reform and Chapter 23 Labor of the T-MEC” highlighted that “in the Mexican labor reality many things are changing, and These changes have allowed the emergence of important actors demanding trade union freedom such as SINTTIA, SNITIS, and the Mexican Trade Union League.
