The Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare, Luisa Alcalde Luján, met with Filomena Tassi, Minister of Labor of Canada. In a video call, both ministers highlighted the importance of the commercial relationship that unites both countries in the framework of the Agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC), which includes provisions to continue promoting better working conditions for workers in the entire North American region.
Mayor Luján stressed that there is a firm commitment from the Government of Mexico to make labor standards a reality, since they are not meant to remain a dead letter, but to be adopted. It is our obligation to build a country where workers’ rights, freedom and union democracy are respected, he said.
The Secretary of Labor explained that there is a commitment not only with our commercial partners, as part of an obligation in a commercial treaty, but that it comes from the President of the Republic and those who participate in his government, to give certainty and confidence to the workers of the country to go to the polls with freedom and decide their future against the organization and collective contracts.
In the virtual meeting, he explained the three pillars of the Labor Reform: 1) an expedited labor justice system that favors conciliation; 2) freedom of association and the obligation of unions to update their statutes so that they contemplate democratic processes in accordance with the principles of free, personal, direct and secret voting; and, 3) authentic collective bargaining for which the process of legitimation of all collective bargaining contracts (CCT) has been established, so that they have the support of the workers.
Within these advances, he explained the implementation of the new labor model in three stages, in that sense, he explained that, in 2020, it began last year in 8 states, to which another 13 will be added during 2021 and will conclude with 11 states in 2022. He also presented the progress made in the CCT legitimation processes and the adaptation of union statutes.
Minister Tassi recognized the progress and coordination activities led by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare to meet the implementation deadlines of the labor reform and highlighted that the new model implies a profound transformation in Mexico. He reiterated the willingness and interest of the Government of Canada to support the efforts to implement this reform, through cooperation projects to build institutional capacities.
Minister Tassi was accompanied by the Canadian Ambassador to Mexico, Graeme Clark, and by Rakesh Party, Director General of International and Intergovernmental Labor Affairs; while, the Mayor Secretary by Alejandro Encinas Nájera, Head of the Labor Policy and Institutional Relations Unit; and Esteban Martínez Mejía, Head of the Liaison Unit for the Reform of the Labor Justice System.
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