The De la Vega & Martínez Rojas Firm presented the Ingeniería Laboral D&M [D&M Labor Engineering] Report, which analyzes the situation of the legitimation of collective bargaining agreements (CCTs) that must be conducted by union organizations before the first day of May of 2023. The report highlights that the Labor Reform established one of the great challenges of collective democracy, considering that over 85% of all companies in Mexico had protection agreements.
According to the report, the low level of ratification of the collective bargaining agreements is reflected in the fact that, to date, and according to information from the Federal Center, barely a little over 10% of the agreements that are reported as being registered have been ratified. In this context, it is highly interesting to understand the behavior of workers’ voting as well as what is going through people’s heads when they exercise their collective right to the legitimation of their CCT.
The analysis of failed legitimations reported by the Federal Center for Labor Conciliation and Registration reveals that 244 collective bargaining agreements were terminated as the result of a process of negative voting by the workers. The sectors with the greatest number of terminated agreements due to failed legitimations are: the automotive and auto parts, retail, mass consumption of food and beverages, metals and raw materials, tourism and maquila sectors.
Three trends that explain the CCT terminations in the events of failed legitimations in various sectors are laid out in the report. The first one, in the automotive and maquila sectors, is the result of the pressure of independent unions. The second, in retail companies and in some mass consumption companies reveals that they have a very short union tradition and the dominance of white unions in the sector. The third trend is related to the metal and raw materials sector, as well as to the hotel sector, in which it is clearly seen that workers are tired of their unions as well as the necessity of renovating their collective representation.
