How does Sirvolab, the new electronic system for union elections, work?

The Oil Workers Union of the Mexican Republic (STPRM) is about to mark two historical events in its union life: first, to elect its national leadership for the first time through the personal vote, free, direct and secret from its members; second, use a electronic system to cast votes.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) presented the Remote Labor Voting System (Sirvolab), a tool developed by the agency itself and which can be accessed from any electronic device with an internet connection.

This mechanism was chosen by the STPRM for the vote on January 31, 2022, but President Andrés Manuel López Obrador affirmed that the tool may be adopted by any other union organization.

“And that we can also replicate this in some other unions to guarantee free, secret voting; clean electionsThat it is the workers who, without any pressure, without threats or receiving handouts, can elect their representatives in a democratic way, ”said López Obrador in his morning press conference this Friday.

The Sirvolab It will allow workers to cast their vote from anywhere with an internet connection, safely because only the person can enter with a username and password and, in addition, a security code that will be generated at the time.

The operation of the system is as follows:

1. The union and the company They will provide the information of the register of workers with the right to vote, work centers and union sections to be uploaded on the platform.
2. Workers They must go to a registration module to validate their identity and complete the registration with personal and contact information.
3. The union members They will receive a username and password to access the system on election day.
4. The day of the vote The worker will enter the system with their username and password, and a token or code that will be sent at the time.
5. Affiliates The union will have five minutes to cast their vote once they enter the system.
6. Sirvolab will issue an acknowledgment that endorses the participation.
7. The tool It has a digital counting mechanism that can be accessed at the end of election day to find out the results.

As in other union democracy processes with the new rules established by the 2019 labor reform, the results will also be published in visible spaces in the work centers.

Although the Sirvolab is a tool developed by the STPS, the Federal Center for Labor Conciliation and Registration (CFCRL) is the authority in charge of monitoring and supervising union elections and, consequently, delivering the certificate to the winner.

“It will be the first time that this mechanism of electronic voting, convinced that this can guarantee that each and every worker can participate in a peaceful and free way on that day of the election ”, affirmed Luisa María Alcalde Luján, Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare during the presentation of the platform.

This system seeks to facilitate the realization of union elections, which must be carried out through the personal, free, direct and secret vote of the union members in compliance with the legal modifications that came into force in 2019.

The new union elections

As a result of the labour reform, all processes of union democracy and collective bargaining must have the participation of workers through the election of personal, free, direct and secret vote. In this sense, elections for union leaders can no longer be carried out through assemblies, through delegates or with freehand consultations.

In that sense, the New procedure for union elections it contemplates:

• Publication of the call with date, time and place of the process in the offices of the union and the places with the greatest influx in the workplace.
• The call must be issued at least 10 days prior to election day.
• Publish the list of active workers with the right to vote at least three days in advance.
• Ballots with the municipality and federative entity where the voting is carried out, the position to be chosen, the full name of the candidates and the emblem or color of each of the participating lists.

The union elections They are subject to a compliance verification system that can be executed by the Federal Center for Labor Conciliation and Registration or STPS inspectors.

“At the conclusion of the election, the authority that attends the verification must draw up a record stating the election result and the way in which it was carried out ”, indicates article 371 BIS of the Federal Labor Law.

Similarly, the Labor legislation prohibits unions from obstructing the participation of workers in the election procedures of their union officers, placing conditions without legal basis or any type of undue obstacle to exercise the right to vote.