Dear Clients and Friends,
The recent reform of the Federal Labor Law (“Labor Reform”), published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on May 1, 2019, provided for the disappearance of the Conciliation and Arbitration Boards and the creation, instead, of a Federal Conciliation and Labor Registry Center, as well as Local Conciliation Centers.
Thus, following the Labor Reform and articles 107 and 123 of the Constitution regarding labor justice, on January 6, the Organic Law of the Federal Conciliation and Labor Registry Center (“Conciliation Center”) was issued, setting the regulatory framework for its organization and operation.
Hereafter, the Conciliation Center, a decentralized public body with headquarters in Mexico City and appropriate local offices, will have two fundamental duties:
1 Conduct conciliation procedures between workers and employers at the federal level, whether individual or collective.
2 Register, at the national level, all collective bargaining agreements, internal work regulations, and unions, as well as related administrative procedures.
The Conciliation Center, on the other hand, has two governing bodies:
• Governing Board, comprising the heads of the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Personal Data Protection, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography and the National Electoral Institute.
• Managing Director, elected by the Senate at the proposal of the Federal Executive, will remain in office for 6 years and may be reelected for an equal period on a single occasion.
The most relevant functions of the Conciliation Center are:
a Carry conciliatory proceedings between employers and workers, in individual or collective matters, on the federal level.
b Register all collective bargaining agreements, internal work regulations and unions, and all related administrative procedures.
c Assist unions or workers in the election of their union leaders.
d Issue non-conciliation certificates.
e Issue representativeness certificates.
f Verify that the majority of workers support collective bargaining agreements and their reviews.
g Verify that the content of collective bargaining agreements is made known to workers.
h Provide to the courts, as required, the documentation regarding the registration and administration of collective bargaining agreements, tabs, lists of workers affiliated with competing unions and any the information they possess in such matters.
i Publicize the information of trade unions and offer copies of documents in registered files to those that request them.
j Impose the corresponding fines for non-compliance with the Federal Labor Law (“FLL”), according to the applicable regulations.
It is worth mentioning that the Organic Law of the Conciliation Center, in force as of January 7, provides that the procedure to legitimize collective bargain agreements outlined in the FLL, shall be carried out by the Conciliation Center once it starts to perform its registration duties and issues the appropriate protocol. From then on, legitimation procedures carried out before the Ministry of Labor will be transferred to the Conciliation Center, which may determine the termination of collective bargaining agreements where they do not meet the requirements of the FLL.
Labor & Social Security
Javier Canseco
Perla Arreola
Isaac Corral
Ana María Becerra
Rogelio Sánchez
Roberto Álvarez Malo
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