Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador asserted on Tuesday that Mexico has already fulfilled its “commitment” to approve a labor reform and urged the US Congress to ratify the T-MEC trade agreement now.
“It was said that this reform was going to be approved and we have already complied, now it is up to the United States Government, the United States legislators, to finish approving the free trade agreement,” he said at his morning press conference at the National Palace. .
Lopez Obrador celebrated that the Mexican Senate approved on Monday the labor reform that the US authorities had set as a condition to ratify the renewed trade agreement between Mexico, the US and Canada (T-MEC).
The Mexican president said that this new legislation is “an important step forward because workers are guaranteed their rights to freely choose their union representatives.
“That the union leaders are not imposed, but that they are elected by the workers and that there is union democracy, before there was no free, direct, secret vote of the workers to elect their representatives,” he said.
For this reason, the leader of the leftist National Regeneration Movement called the labor reform “a great step forward for the benefit of the workers of Mexico.”
In addition, he welcomed the reform had the support of Mexican businessmen and unions, and noted that with its approval “is fulfilled the commitment made with the United States Government to sign the free trade agreement.”
Jesus Seade, representative of Lopez Obrador in the negotiations of the T-MEC, said that this reform also complies with the International Labor Organization (ILO), which for 25 years has criticized the “union situation in Mexico.”
The Senate of Mexico approved on Monday the labor reform that includes a new scheme of delivery of justice in the matter, as well as the union democracy, with which it is fulfilled the commitments of the country in the T-MEC.
The opinion, approved by 120 votes in favor and two against, foresees the disappearance of the Conciliation and Arbitration Boards and the creation of specialized courts of the Judicial Power, as well as the union democracy so that the workers elect their leaders by direct vote and secret
This reform, which was previously approved by the Chamber of Deputies, has been sent to the Federal Executive for promulgation.
The president of the House of Representatives of the USA, Nancy Pelosi, declared in early April that the US Legislature would not ratify the T-MEC until Mexico endorses this reform.
With the arrival of Donald Trump to the White House in 2017, the renegotiation of the then North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) began.
The Mexican government was then chaired by Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018) who managed to close the negotiation on the last day of his mandate, on November 30, 2018, with the approval of the leftist leader Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who at that time He was president-elect.
Lopez Obrador, who assumed the presidency of Mexico on December 1, said on April 4 that his government does not want to give reasons that jeopardize the renewed trade agreement between Mexico, the US and Canada.
“We do not want there to be any reason to reopen the treaty negotiations, we believe that it is not in the country’s interest,” the president said at his press conference today. (EFE) .-
