Not only because 90% of collective bargaining agreements could disappear in a year, but also because the unionization rate in the country is barely 13%; The Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) Luisa María Alcalde Luján, affirmed that union organizations have “great fertile ground” to grow, but they must become organizations that are close to the workers and that convince about the advantages of being part from them.
In an interview, he stressed that “our country had a very high presence of protection contracts, which is nothing more than contracts that were not reviewed”; That is why they estimate in the federal government that in the last year, to carry out the legitimization of current contracts, only 10,000 or 15,000 will be reached, out of a universe of 550,000 that had been detected.
“Very likely, between 10,000 and 15,000 contracts will have to be legitimized; I believe that this is more or less the forecast, although it has been increasing in these months, a little more than 4,000 have been legitimized; but many wait in the end; and the reading of it is that there was a lot of simulation; the system itself opted for protection contracts”, he highlighted.
In that sense, he added that what was happening “is that these contracts were extended year after year, and it did not mean any improvement for the workers and if there are no improvements, what is the point of paying union dues”, hence those organizations that do not put their contracts to a vote, they will cease to exist.
Likewise, despite the call made by the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), in the voice of Fernando Salgado; from the National Union of Mexico (UNT), with Francisco Hernández Juárez, or from the Confederation of Regional Mexican Workers (CROM), Tayde Alejandra; In order for an extension or extension to be agreed for the legitimations of the contract, which ends in May 2023, the head of Labor maintained that the deadline set in the Federal Labor Law must be met.
Unbeatable times for trade unionism
In recent days, the Secretary of Labor has held meetings with unions of all currents, for which she affirms that “the interesting thing and what was raised with the organizations is that these are unbeatable times to demonstrate that the organization is better than individual defense, that collective defense will mean results and improvements in the short term, more than if you bet on individual defense, where it is difficult to have results; but the unions and workers must make the labor reform their own”.
Luisa María Alcalde explained that “if the unions continue to think that it is an exclusive reform, then they are going to be excluded from the enormous possibility of becoming stronger. There is a universe, the unionization rate is above 10%, there is still 90% left before there is this possibility, a way of negotiating and respecting the rights of workers”.
He highlighted how the great challenges that come in the coming months are both the implementation of the labor reform in its third and final stage; as well as the change in labor justice, “we are vigilant”, so that the States with the greatest conflict enter without any difficulty to address labor issues under the new model.