Politics: Implications of the new labor reform
The Mexican Congress passed a broad reform of the country’s labor laws a month ago, perhaps the most significant institutional change introduced in the less than six months the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been in office. The reform undoubtedly brings positive changes that are designed to do away with abuses that prevented most workers from freely choosing their representatives, and even having a voice and vote on their wages and working conditions as part of their collective bargaining rights. Moreover, it may bring to an end the widespread practices of company and phantom unions that represent the interests of people other than the workers in whose names they pretend to operate. The reform also eliminates rules that have long allowed the government to exert control over the internal life of labor unions. Should such organizations develop more democratic internal practices, the interests of members and leaders could better align, possibly clearing the way for greater transparency and less corruption.
But the reform also poses serious risks and harbors major political implications. It will likely lead to a rise in intra-union conflict and competition as well as a period of heightened worker-employer disputes. Furthermore, as the old control mechanisms are uprooted, decrepit union organizations break down, and workers achieve greater rights, we are likely to see increased infighting among workers and competition among labor bosses for control over unions, infrastructure and collective bargaining agreements, as well as a period of more disputes between workers and their employers because of new rules that require all bargaining agreements to be reviewed every four years, at a bare minimum.
Another risk arising out of the labor reform has been little explored but is an especially serious one. To the extent that a) the door has been opened to increased competition for control of unions, and b) the traditional leaders can no longer provide companies the same degree of "protection" and "muscle" against any labor dissent, criminal racketeers could start turning their sights on infiltrating and establishing control over unions, tapping into vast new revenue streams.
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