Note published on May 14 in El Economista, Empresas [Companies] Section by María del Pilar Martínez.
Despite the fact that the 2019 labor reform seeks to establish freedom of association and collective bargaining, the General Motors Company issued a call for the election of labor councilmen.
The labor reform of 2019 “is a reform that will cause a reduction of unionism”, warned labor experts who analyzed the union map that is expected in the short term, and which could lead to a decrease in the number of people that are interested in belonging to a union, since their agreement was terminated due to lack of compliance with the legitimation process.
Within the framework of the “Collective Bargaining Agreements on the Crosshairs, are you prepared for what is coming?” webinar organized by the De la Vega & Martínez Rojas Firm, the strong possibility of companies in the country entering into the new wave of becoming “union free”, that is opting for non-unionization, was presented.
Ricardo Martínez Rojas, a partner at the Firm, explained that, since over 120,000 collective bargaining agreements were terminated, companies are put on alert to the need to analyze: “what is happening out there in terms of union matters; how are my workers doing and how the work environment should be improved and how to work on a strategy to determine whether we are in a positive environment without unions.”
For the experts, traditional unionism is becoming fractured, and it is fragmenting but, additionally, the phenomenon that is taking place is that union leaderships will be regionalized as “it is expensive to be present at every area with the workers”, explained Blanya Correal, international consultant associated with De la Vega & Martinez Rojas.
General Motors, promotes labor council
Meanwhile, under the premise that workers do not want to be unionized, the General Motors company launched a campaign on May 2 “with the objective of improving our work environment and strengthening our communication channels, and in May we will create the labor council.
The company explained to the workers that the labor council is a committee whose members are representatives of the operational area, “with a very important role in the review and update of working conditions in order to continue being the place that we chose to work at.”
The labor reform of 2019 establishes that companies cannot interfere in the decisions of the workers in regard to who will be their union representative or representatives, that is, freedom of association and collective bargaining are sought.
Nevertheless, the General Motors (GM) company issued a call to elect the permanent labor councilman for areas such as: stamping, body, general work, materials and paint; and the requirements establish that “if they have over 7 years of employment seniority at GM and they have knowledge in the areas of compensations, the LFT [Federal Labor Law], Infonavit [National Workers’ Housing Fund Institute], the IMSS [Mexican Social Security Institute] Law, production modes, communications kills, leadership”, they must get in touch with the labor relations contact.
