Facing the beginning of the second year of the LXV Legislature, the Congress of the Union has a busy agenda between legislative pending in labor matters and new songs that have been added to the list. There are many reforms in the pipeline, but the increase in vacation days, the regulation of digital platforms, the rights of minority unions and social security for domestic workers are emerging as priority issues.
Patricia Mercado, secretary of the Senate Labor Commission, acknowledges that there are many issues on the agenda, but in the Upper House, the reform of worthy vacationsunemployment insurance, protection against health contingencies, the rights of delivery men and application drivers, and rural workers are the ones that have made the most progress.
“These are the most relevant issues that I see at this time for this next period, either by discussion or by decision. They are the topics where there is political will to discuss them”, the legislator of the Citizen Movement (MC) said in an interview.
The pending in the Senate have a point in common with the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS). Luisa María Alcalde Luján, head of the agency, stated that in September they will send the Congress of the Union the reform proposal to regulate work on digital platformsa preponderant issue for the labor authorities.
In addition, another of the federal government’s priorities is updating the work-related diseases tablewhich has not been modified in more than five decades and whose project is in the period of public consultation.
In the Chamber of Deputies, meanwhile, the issues that tie with the Senate are the reform of digital platforms and the increase in vacation days. But they are not the only ones, on the pending list there are also paternity leave, social security for domestic workers and greater guarantees for minority unions.
For the deputy Susana Prieto Terrazas (Morena) “more reforms are required so that the revisions and legitimations of the collective bargaining agreements (CCT) are carried out without the danger of intimidation from charro unions and companies”.
The secretary of the Labor Commission in San Lázaro, and who promoted the 20/32 labor movement in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, considers that the union issue will continue to be one of the most important on the national public agenda. “It is necessary to improve the inspection process to guarantee freedom of association, since the threats and harassment do not occur on the day of the vote for the legitimation or revision of the CCT, but before.”
It will also be necessary to advance, he detailed in an interview, with greater commitment towards the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work. “Mexico has signed international commitments that have existed for many years, but until now we have not been able to eliminate the wage gap and other types of discrimination against women and also against men from different excluded groups.”
Two years after the end of the legislature, said Patricia Mercado, it is important to close the legislative agenda in terms of labor rightsprioritize some concluded issues and advance in the discussion of other aspects that can be taken up again in the medium term.
What do you seek to change with the reforms?
On the topic of vacations, the Senate accumulates four projects, the one with the most consensus is to double the current period. “There is an agreement that yes, but we have not yet agreed on how many days to start and how many days later. I hope that this negotiation can be 12 or 10 days, but that it advances in two days for each year until completing at least 18 days —which is what the ILO recommends— in the next four years”, explains Patricia Mercado.
In the Chamber of Deputies, the proposal is similar because the project is promoted by Deputy Sergio Barrera, also from MC, and seeks raise to 12 days the minimum of vacations in the first year of service.
As to digital platforms, both Chambers have more than seven projects together. With some differences, the proposals seek to recognize the employment relationship between mobility and food delivery applications, and their drivers and couriers.
“There are different proposals on platform workers. On the one hand, there is the Federal Government, which has stated that it is preparing an initiative. There is an interest of the Federal Government, of the workers of organized platforms and of different benches there are some proposals presented, ”says Patricia Mercado.
But in the plenary there are also pending one step away from concluding the process. In the case of the Upper House, the permits for bereavement due to the death of a family member and the extension of the paternity leave These are issues that already have an opinion and the Board of Directors has postponed them.
In San Lázaro, meanwhile, the plenary is pending to vote on the ruling to recognize compulsory social security for domestic workers. In addition, the already approved project is still in the pipeline so that the minority unions enjoy more equal conditions. This includes receiving union dues and that those who belong to them have access to licenses for some commission, among other prerogatives.
And although in this period of sessions issues will be presented that will attract more legislative attention, such as the electoral reformPatricia Mercado hopes that the discussion will be open to aspects that “have to do with work and very daily problems”, aspects that are closer to people’s lives.
