Mexico: 11 countries including Mexico, executed again the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) after the United States withdrew from it

On March 8, in Santiago de Chile, 11 countries including Mexico, executed again the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) after the United States withdrew from it.

The signatory countries are Australia, Brunei-Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Mexico.

The treaty has 30 chapters that include a vast regulation of commercial aspects to ensure equitable conditions among the signatory parties on subjects such as economic competition, rules of origin, intellectual property, among others.

In this context, Chapter 19 stands out, which refers to labor aspects, in line with the standards of the International Labor Organization’s Conventions, especially those concerning Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining.

This treaty contains many observations on labor matters, which constitute a relevant background of the Constitutional Reform that became effective on February 2017, which was precisely oriented to Freedom of Association, avoiding drawer contracts, guaranteeing a real Collective Bargaining and a substantial reform to Labor Justice: eliminating the Conciliation and Arbitration Labor Boards and replacing them with Labor Courts dependent of the Judicial Power.

In current negotiations of the North America Free Trade Agreement, the United States and Canada have insisted in the inclusion of a Labor Chapter, which basically coincides with Chapter 19 of the TPP, with emphasis in Freedom of Association, Collective Bargaining and an independent Labor Justice. Due to the absence of a real Collective Bargaining and a Labor Justice dependent of the Administrative Branch, low salaries have been considered a disadvantage for the other two signatories of the TLCAN.