The Guadalajara Reporter

Labor law reform: vital for progress, president argues

President Felipe Calderon has presented Congress’ lower house with a bill proposing significant changes to Mexico’s outdated labor law that he says will complete the country’s transformation to a more competitive and modern economy.

Labor law has not been significantly altered in four decades. Presently, it is both difficult and expensive to fire workers, a fact that discourages small businesses from taking on new staff. Moreover, union leaders are not directly elected or required to reveal the destiny of tens of millions of dollars that they receive each year.

“The aim is to enable millions of people who are unemployed to have access to work, particularly women and young people,” Calderon said of the bill, which will facilitate recruitment via outsourcing, introduce 180-day “learning contracts,” limit the right of workers to strike, speed arbitration, reduce severance payments for employers who dismiss employees and increase the accountability and democratization of labor unions.

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