Enrique Mendez, Georgina Saldierna and Fabiola Martinez
Newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday, December 7, 2022, p. 12
The Senate draft on dignified vacations advanced yesterday in the Chamber of Deputies, where the Labor Commission approved extending from six to 12 days the vacation to which workers will be entitled after completing one year of work, but with a modification so that they take six continuous days and the rest in the manner agreed with the employer. The document will be discussed in plenary session next Thursday and will then be sent to the Senate.
The opinion of the minute was approved by 17 votes in favor of Morena, PAN and PRI, four against the PRD and the cherry party, and two abstentions from Movimiento Ciudadano, given the warnings of some morenistas that the change introduced leaves in a state of vulnerability to workers, given the tendency of some employers to not want to take the holiday.
The change introduced establishes that workers must enjoy at least six days of vacation continuously, of the total period that corresponds to them. In addition, they will have the power and the right to agree with the employer the way and times in which they will enjoy the remaining days of vacation that they have in their favor, either continuously or partially.
The deputy Araceli Ocampo (Morena) stressed that everyone in the commission is in favor of 12 days, but they must be continuous, because otherwise the workers are left in a state of vulnerability. When they want to work for the remaining six days, they will be subject to intimidation and repression by the employer, and when there is a cut in personnel, they will be the first to be fired.
Susana Prieto (Morena) stated that in the companies the one in charge is the employer and if he does not feel like it, he will not approve that the workers take the remaining six days. The minute must remain as it comes from the Senate. It will be impudent to put the workers to negotiate, she reproached the members of the commission. In the opinion it is not clear that they will be able to take the 12 days continuously, she insisted.
Manuel de Jesús Baldenebro, president of the commission, explained that the Senate bill was modified so that workers can divide their vacations, because taking the 12 days together can be unfavorable for the workplace and even for the employees themselves because it limits the possibility to reach an agreement that best suits the latter.
The emecista deputy Sergio Barrera, promoter of the initiative, considered that the important thing is to approve the document so that it enters into force next year. Once endorsed, there will surely be reform proposals regarding the way in which the holiday period can be taken, he pointed out.
