Watered-Down Labor Reforms in Mexico Raise Questions over Enrique Peña Nieto's Reformist Credentials

A watered-down version of proposed labor reforms in Mexico received provisional backing from a congressional committee on Wednesday while unionists, workers and leftists took to the streets of Mexico City to protest against the legislation.

In it’s original form, the bill had two objectives; introducing more flexibility to the labor market by allowing part-time work, hourly wages and outsourcing and increasing transparency and democracy in Mexico’s unions by making external financial audits and secret ballot elections for union leaders a legal requirement.

The reform has been touted as a litmus test for incoming president Enrique Peña Nieto’s claims to be breaking from the PRI party’s corrupt and authoritarian past as the PRI has traditionally had a close relationship with the “antiquated, autocratic” unions that dominate Mexican labor relations.

According to Jose Antonio Alvarez, a veteran PRI politician and political commentator, “"If this new law modernizes the nation's labor and union life, then it shows that Peña and his group of reformers are in charge. But if this is a deceitful and decaffeinated legislative fiasco, it will be clear that the Congress and the PRI remain property of the old dinosaurs."

Negotiations over the legislation have also been seen as a test of the incoming PRI government’s ability to work with the outgoing PAN party - something it will need to do to pass its own legislation when Peña Nieto takes power in December as the party failed to secure a majority in Congress, reports Reuters.

The draft bill eventually passed with the two parties reaching consensus but only after the legislation was stripped of plans for union reform after encountering fierce resistance from members of the PRI, giving rise to speculation that lawmakers capitulated to the PRI old guard, according to Reuters.

Protests are being led by leftist party the PRD, who say they will “use any means necessary” to block the bill, according to the AP.

The proposal is expected to go before the full chamber in the coming days.

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