30 March, 2010International Metalworkers' Federation continues to call for an end to the use of protection contracts in Mexico, which are in violation of the fundamental right to freedom of association.
GENEVA/MEXICO: In an attempt to delay and block a complaint filed in February 2009 by the International Metalworkers' Federation with the International Labour Organization on the violation of freedom of association through the use of protection contracts in Mexico (ILO Case No. 2694), the Mexican government responded to the Committee on Freedom of Association at the 11th hour claiming inadmissibility.
The IMF maintains that the Mexican government has a clear case to answer on its violation of freedom of association through the widespread use of protection contracts in Mexico.
As outlined in the complaint (ILO Case No. 2694), labour laws in Mexico and the way they are applied by the government and employers frequently result in collective agreements being reached at an enterprise between a "union" and an employer with no reference to the workers it covers. These agreements are known as protection contracts (contratos de protección), with lawyers estimating that the vast majority of all collective contracts in Mexico are protection contracts.
Most protection contracts do not benefit workers because the agreed conditions are the minimums required by law. In practice protection contracts are used to prevent independent unions from forming and to prevent the possibility of workers taking action, such as strikes, to protect their interests.
Worse still, workers that seek to establish an independent union and negotiate a collective contract are frequently subjected to reprisals, intimidation, threats, violence, dismissals and blacklisting.
The IMF regards protection contracts and the impact they have on workers as a violation of the right to freedom of association as enshrined in ILO Convention 87, since there is no question here of a decision freely made and will continue to press for an answer from the Mexican government on this issue.
For more information about protection contracts, what they are and how they impact on workers see this summary here and the full complaint lodged with the ILO here.