Mexico’s government was recently recommended to comply with an ILO request for reforms to the country’s Federal Labour Law, by eight major apparel brands via a joint letter. Compliance would ensure greater respect for workers right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The letter specifically points to the issue of protection of contracts as it allows registration of collective agreements by trade unions that cannot demonstrate the support of majority of workers they intend to represent, by means of a democratic election process.

Many Mexican workers still don’t have access to copies of these agreements mentions the letter. An initiative of the multi-stakeholder Mexico Committee, the letter comprises of IndustriALL Global Union.

Fernando Lopes, Assistant General Secretary, IndustriALL says Mexico is under pressure from governments, democratic unions and the ILO to implement concrete measure to guarantee workers right to be represented by a union of their choice and bargain collectively. He further applauds the brands for supporting the call for freedom of association in Mexico.

The Committee also includes a number of US and European apparel and sportswear brands, the Fair Labor Association, and the Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN), apart from IndustriALL. Mexico will take concrete steps to ensure that positive reforms made to the country’s Federal Labour Law in 2012 are fully implemented at the local level, expresses the joint letter.

Requirements for greater transparency of collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) and union registrations and bylaws, urgent revision of clauses in CBAs that permitted the firing of workers who are expelled from or voluntarily resign from an unrepresentative union are included in the reforms cited.