At least 161 trade union organizations are required to change their leadership before March 31, the date on which the extension granted by the labor authority ends, since there will be no more extensions.
According to data from the Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS), the unions that had the possibility of delaying their electoral processes for changing the general secretary or their leadership, were those that expired their union certificates between November 18, 2020 and March 31, 2022.
Some of the 161 organizations that find themselves in this situation are the Workers’ Union of the Autonomous University of Mexico (STUNAM); as well as the Union of Workers of the Center for Economic Research and Teaching AC; Independent Union of Workers of the Metropolitan University; Unions of Workers of the College of Mexico; the Union of Workers of the Ingenio “El Potrero” Company and the National Union of Workers and Employees of Afore XXI.
It should be noted that the unions that enter this process must comply with the new rules of the labour reformthat is, the free, secret and direct vote to carry out these procedures before the Labor Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration (CFCRL) that came into operation.
“The social distance that should have been applied made it very difficult to hold assemblies, which is why an extension was given to prevent the unions from being left defenseless; however, now they will have to make the change of leadership under all the rules of the labor reform, which is already in force,” explained Pablo Franco, president of the Union of Jurists of Mexico.
For this, the unions must consider the personal, free, secret and direct vote; have an electoral commission, consider gender proportionality for the integration of the union leadership and may request the support of the labor authority for their processes; Even “some of the workers who manage to add 30% could also request that the CFCRL accompany the procedure to verify that it complies with the statutes and with the law,” Franco explained.
Now everything in terms of registration falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Registerwhich “should represent a change because it forces these leaders to promote and require the participation of their members.”
no more extensions
Alejandro Avilés Gómez, president of the Labor Lawyers Association of Mexico City, explained that “the Ministry of Labor informed that the unions must carry out their processes and it was made clear that there will be no extensions; and it is expected that in any case the one that notifies will be the Federal Labor Center”.
He stressed that “it will be until March 31 to renew the note-taking”, this means that the unions that have not elected their boards, even if it does not disappear, may not have the document that gives them legal personality (note-taking ) to be able to negotiate, among other procedures, a collective bargaining agreement with the company.
To speed up this process, Avilés Gómez explained that the labor authority made available the use of electronic voting, just as it was used in the Oil Union, despite the fact that its use is not regulated in the Federal Labor Law.
