The Rights of Workers in Mexico
![handle is hein.journals/cllpj11 and id is 192 raw text is: THE RIGHTS OF WORKERS IN MEXICO
Ann M. Bartowt
The Mexican people live and work under an astounding collection
of protective labor statutes, policies, and practices which provide them,
as employees, with an extensive list of detailed rights and privileges. This
comment will provide an overview of these rights, and in so doing, offer a
glimpse of the philosophical and practical concerns that shape the labor
policies of the Mexican Government.
I. THE FOUNDATION AND SCOPE OF WORKERS' RIGHTS
A. Constitutional and Statutory Guarantees
The Mexican Revolution of 1910-17 concluded a period in Mexican
history in which the working conditions for laborers were poor and
strikes and unions were brutally suppressed.' Worker organizations
played a significant role in the success of the revolution, and as a result,
when a new Constitution was drafted in 1917, the authors sought to in-
corporate extensive constitutional protections for laborers.2 The Mexi-
can Constitution is written as a detailed piece of legislation, and as it was
amended over the years, further protections were added. Consequently,
today Mexican workers have a wide range of protected rights under the
Constitution.' Many of these rights flow directly from Title VI of the
Mexican Constitution, entitled Labor and Social Security.' This part
of the Constitution is also referred to as Article 123, and declares
[e]very person is entitled to suitable work that is socially useful. To-
ward this end, the creation of jobs and social organization for labor shall
i- B.A. 1985. Cornell University J.D. Candidate 1990, University of Pennsylvania.
1. F. MEYE, RS. MLX ICAN INIUSTIRIAI- Ri LAIIONS FROM [HIE PERSPECTIVE OF THE LABOR
COURi 3 (1979).
2 .1. SCtl AG(CiHEK. 1 HI ]POI. TIC,\I. ECONOMIC. AND LABOR CILIMATE IN MEXICO 104
(1977).
3. The Mexican Constitution functions essentially as a code or series of statutes, as evidenced
by its aniendment on 369 occasions between 1917 and 1984.' A RIDING, DISTANT NiEIGHBORS: A
POR RAFT O1 Tiii MEXICANS 68 (1985).
4. CONST ITUCION PotI iC A DE Os EsTADOS UNIDOS MEiXICANOS [hereinafter CONST.] art.
123 (Mex.). reprinted in G.H Flanz & Moreno, Mexico. in X CONSTITUTIONS OF THE WORLD 97
(A.P. Blaustein & G H Flanz eds. 1988).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/cllpj11&div=18&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Rights of Workers in Mexico
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