In the agreement for the Government to acquire the assets of Mexicana, it is foreseeable that a new labor relationship with the former workers of the airline will be considered, labor lawyers believe.
The government would allocate resources to comply with the payment of labor liabilities, they added, and would seek a different working relationship with the airline that it plans to launch.
“There are a series of agreements with unions and with workers on an individual basis, and I understand that the resources that the Federal Government will allocate are intended for the termination of collective and individual relationships and for redisigning a new entity with different assets, the only thing that they will use is the brand”, labor lawyer Óscar de la Vega stated.
In contrast, Jorge Sales, a partner at Littler, said that if the previous employment relationship is not terminated priorly, the Government could become a substitute employer.
“Anyone who acquires another company’s assets is considered to be a substitute employer and the workers can demand that this new figure covers the rights that may have been left by the old employer.
“This would give the Mexicana workers the right to demand the payment of 100 percent of the severance payments because it is a new employer. This is the hypothesis that the Government must evaluate”, added Jorge Sales, labor lawyer.
Employees that terminated the employment relationship with the former employer, he added, cannot make any claims against the Government.
On January 6, the Government signed an agreement with various unions that considers the purchase of the Compañía Mexicana de Aviación brand for more than 816 million pesos.
The unions that approved the sale were the Union Association of Aviator Pilots (ASPA), the Union Association of Aviation Flight Attendants (ASSA), the National Union of Transport, Transformation, Aviation, Services and Similar Workers (SNTTTASS) and the Association of Retirees, Workers and Former Workers of Mexican Aviation (AJTEMA).
