If the new labor justice is not expeditious, it will not be justice: José Luis Rodríguez

If justice is late, it is justice denied, or being radical “if justice is not prompt and expeditious, then it is not justice,” says José Luis Rodríguez Díaz de León, head of the City’s Ministry of Labor and Employment Promotion of Mexico (STyFE). Therefore, the conciliation in a maximum time of 45 days is perhaps the central element of the new way of solving labor disputeshe points out.

On October 3, the new labor justice system, which emerged from the 2019 labor reform, came into operation in the country’s capital and 10 other entities, thus completing the last of three phases to implement the change. In 2020, a first group of eight states began and in 2021, a second set of 13. The new model will gradually replace the Arbitration Conciliation Boards with conciliation centers and labor courts.

For most cases, it is mandatory to exhaust the conciliation process, but the Federal Labor Law (LFT) prohibits this process from extending beyond 45 days. If the parties do not reach an agreement, the matter goes to a labor court.

The conciliation It is the “ideal mechanism to access labor justice”, considers José Luis Rodríguez. By this means, “we will leave behind a model that was filled with vices, which slowed down the processes so as not to solve them.” The legal representations, whether from the employer or the worker, “far from paying for the solution, hindered it for their own benefit”, lengthening the trials to tire the other party and earn more money.

The boards are no longer receiving new cases, but will continue to function until they resolve the last file they have left. In this transition, personnel from these organizations have denounced that their contracts were not renewed or that they will not be hired in the conciliation centers, despite the fact that the authorities of the Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board of Mexico City promised to do so. .

The Job issue of those who are dedicated to ruling on violations of labor rights “is alien to this Secretariat in real terms and is an issue alien to the Center for Labor Conciliation,” says the official. “I do not know the content of those agreements. In the time that I have been in charge of the Secretariat, there has not been a single dialogue table with the staff. The only information I have is that no grassroots worker of the Local Board has been affected in their legal sphere or in their rights”.

No need for a lawyer

The third phase of implementation of the new labor justice model, which included Chihuahua, Mexico City, Coahuila, Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas and Yucatán, should have entered into force last May, but the Congress granted a four-month extension, as there were delays due to lack of budget.

Of all the entities, Mexico City It is where the greatest number of labor conflicts are concentrated. The biggest challenge to implement the new system was to reform the Organic Law of the Judiciary, “to make labor courts viable,” and create the Organic Law of the Conciliation Center, explains José Luis Rodríguez.

The Labor Conciliation Center of Mexico City “is a specialized, impartial body, which has technical and operational autonomy, but is divided into sectors of the Ministry of Labor. Its main objective is the preliminary conciliationthat is, to prevent the labor conflict from being resolved in court”.

It is very important for people to be clear that, if they have a labor conflict, they have to present themselves to a conciliation center, emphasizes the official. “Now we will seek a solution through dialogue, through conciliation. Our central objective is to propose alternatives, fair and equitable solutions to avoid the violation of the rights of workers”.

In addition to speed, with this system people do not need to hire legal advice. The conciliation processes must be carried out directly between the parties, which closes the doors to members of unions, lawyers and lawyers who pursued matters outside the facilities, by lengthening the trial they managed to win more.

“Of course there is resistance to this change. But if we objectively analyze access to justice in the boards, I don’t see who can argue that it is functional to have hearings eight or 20 months after filing the lawsuit. Here we are talking about a conciliatory procedure that will take a maximum of 45 days, and the matter goes to a labor court, which must resolve it within a period no older than 6 months”.

The official highlights the importance of citizens knowing their rights, how and where to exercise them. “When a right is not known, it is not exercised. The new labor justice organizations seek to prevent the violation of workers and offer those who live in Mexico City a public service that is effective.”