Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Labour Administration Convention, 1978 (No. 150) - Mexico (Ratification: 1982)

The Committee notes the observations of the National Union of Workers of the Federal Roads and Bridges Access and Related Services (SNTCPF), received in 2016, as well as the observations of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), communicated with the Government’s report.

The Committee also notes the Government’s comments with relation to the observations of the SNTCPF, received in 2014 and 2015, regarding the need to adopt occupational safety and health (OSH) measures concerning firedamp in the extraction of coal, shale gas, natural gas and oil. The Committee further notes that the 2021 Inspection Programme, sent by the Government with its report, includes updating the OSH standards framework by amending, inter alia, Mexican Official Standard NOM-032-STPS-2008 on safety in underground coalmines. The Committee requests the Government to refer to its comments formulated in this connection regarding the application of the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155).

Articles 4 and 6(1) and (2)(a) of the Convention. Organization and operation of the system of labour administration. National labour policy. The Committee notes that the CTM mentions, in its observations, that it is not possible to plan, organize and implement a public policy on labour administration given that the labour administration system operates according to the ideology and criteria of the incumbent government, and that the staff members contracted by that government initially lack the training necessary to carry out their functions and that occasionally the action taken by the labour administration system fails to protect workers. The Committee also notes that the ITUC, in its observations, describes labour inspection activities of the Secretariat of Labour and Social Welfare (STPS) as feeble, fragmented, and accorded little importance; while for its part, the SNTCPF states in its observations that labour inspection is proving ineffective in curbing OSH violations in mining centres (in particular in illegal or clandestine coalmines), as a result of its narrow scope, the slowness of its operation and the bureaucracy involved. In relation to these comments, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the adoption of the Sectoral Labour and Social Welfare Programme (PSTPS) 2020–24 and of the Inspection Programme (PI) 2021. These programmes include strategies and action in respect of labour inspection aimed at: (i) the restructuring of the labour inspectorate focusing on simplification of standards, training, the use of new technologies and stamping out corruption, to ensure compliance with the labour standards in force, with emphasis on non-discrimination and inclusion (priority strategy 4.4 of PSTPS 2020–24); and (ii) the implementation by the Directorate-General of the Federal Labour Inspectorate of the STPS of an inspection strategy focused on the country’s current needs and problems, centring inspection activities on monitoring the general working and OSH conditions of mine workers, among others (strategy 1, action line 1 of the PI 2021). The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed comments in relation to all the observations referred to above, making particular reference to the implementation and results of the strategies and actions included in the PSTPS 2020–24 and the PI 2021 (or subsequent programmes) with regard to labour inspection, as well their impact on the operation of the labour inspection as part of the system of labour administration.

Article 5. Consultation, cooperation and negotiation between the public authorities and the social partners. With regard to its previous comments on the coordination of action between the social partners and workplace safety and health committees, the Committee notes: (i) the information provided by the Government on the operation of tripartite bodies such as the national OSH consultative committee and the national consultative committee for OSH standardization between 2015 and 2020; (ii) the STPS reports from 2018–19 and 2019–20, communicated by the Government, which contain information regarding inter-institutional coordination and cooperation implemented by the STPS; and (iii) the PSTPS 2020–24 strategies and action involving cooperation between the public authorities and the social partners, as well as participation by the latter, to ensure that OSH conditions in workplaces are such as to prevent occupational accidents and diseases (strategy 4.3). the Committee requests the Government to refer to its comments made in respect of the application of the Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144).

Article 10. Staff of the labour administration system. With regard to its previous comments on any measures adopted to increase the number of labour inspectors responsible for supervising OSH conditions in the mining sector, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government regarding the increase in the number of inspectors for all sectors between 2013 and 2017, which shows that there were 776 inspectors in 2013, 926 in June 2016 and 946 in June 2017. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the numbers of labour inspectors, specifying how many of these are responsible for monitoring OSH conditions in the mining sector. Likewise, the Committee requests the Government to provide information, where applicable, on measures adopted or envisaged to increase the number of labour inspectors, in particular those responsible for monitoring OSH conditions in the mining sector.