Enhancing Labor Conciliation (ENLACE)
Mexico’s 2017 and 2019 labor justice reforms abolish Mexico’s conciliation and arbitration boards (CABs), the ineffective, inefficient, nontransparent institutions formerly serving as the country’s main arbiter of labor justice. The reforms create new, more transparent and accountable labor justice institutions to absorb the CABs’ responsibilities, including new federal and state labor courts and one federal and 32 state conciliation centers that are now the first step in most labor dispute resolution.
In this context, AIR and our partner, the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), are implementing the ILAB-funded ENLACE project to increase the effectiveness of the new labor conciliation centers at the federal level and in 16 states. Under ENLACE, our team is adopting a data-driven approach to:
- Build institutional, legal, administrative, and technological capacity of state institutions involved in labor conciliation, including upgrading and adapting existing conciliation tools and systems;
- Facilitate and strengthen coordination among federal and state governmental institutions involved in labor conciliation;
- Train state and federal conciliators in legal, technical, technological, and soft conciliation skills; and
- Develop tools and training to strengthen workplace dialogue and incentivize conciliation for workers, unions, and employers.
Project Highlights
Implementation of Mexico’s labor justice reforms, including the establishment of new mandatory local labor conciliation centers (LCCs), is occurring in three phases across Mexico’s 32 states, with eight of the 16 states covered by the ENLACE project in phase three. Under ENLACE, our team provided robust technical assistance to support the timely launch and effective operation of the LCCs in these eight phase-three states, including coordinating with the LCCs to accomplish the following:
- Install and provide training and intensive guidance on the National Labor Conciliation System (SINACOL), an electronic conciliation case management system, and the conciliation Notification Management System (SIGNO), an electronic conciliation notification system; and
- Provide foundational LCC institution building support, including for development of LCC organic statutes, organigrams, job profiles for key positions, and recruitment processes.
