Mexico City (December 04, 2019).- US Democrat legislators seek to open a section in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to review that the labor reform is being complied with.
This measure is being sought to be applied under the excuse of making the Country cease to practice “labor dumping”, that is, the payment of low salaries to the workers, according to experts on labor matters.
The US congressmen are applying pressure under the presumption that Mexico has not complied with the labor reform (promulgated on May 1 of this year), they added, and they are suggesting the possibility of having inspection rights in national companies.
“The Democrats are indicating that Mexico does not comply with and has not complied with the labor reform; the bottom line is that the United States is saying that we conduct ‘labor dumping’ and that we have protection collective agreements and that freedom of association is not observed.
“A great deal of pressure was put on us to make the labor reform; we already made the reform to the law, we have already ratified Convention 98 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and, additionally, we are taking steps in the right direction in the implementation of the reform”, stated Ricardo Martínez, specialist on labor matters at the De la Vega & Martínez Rojas Firm.
What the congressmen are suggesting is having inspection and open and direct surveillance rights, but this was deemed to be excessive by the private sector, he added.
“This is excessive because it would violate the sovereignty of the Country; one thing is that we commit to comply with the law, but it is a different thing for them to want inspection and surveillance rights”, Martinez pointed out.
Meanwhile, in a separate interview, Pablo Franco, an expert on union matters, said that the concern of the unions of the member countries of the USMCA is the wage inequality that exists with the Mexican workers.
“The concern of the unions of the member countries has been the wage inequality; in comparison with them, it turns us into ‘social dumping’ that harms the workers of the member countries.
“Obviously Mexico has instilled the culture that this wage containment makes us a competitive country”, stated Franco.
What the unions of the commercial partner countries are seeking, added the expert, is the incorporation of measures that guarantee a salary increase in the short term and that affects employers’ profit margins.
On Monday, the Business Coordinating Council described the demands made by the United States on labor matters as extreme and unacceptable.
In turn, the Employers’ Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex) expressed its support to the Federal Government and urged it to reject any imposition.
Note published in Reforma, Business Section by Verónica Gascón.
Note published in El Norte, Business Section by Verónica Gascón.
Note published in Mural, Business Section by Verónica Gascón.
