Small businesses will require support from labor reform, say lawmakers
Small businesses will require support from labor reform, say lawmakers
Fernando Camacho Servín
La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, May 3, 2025, p. 5
President Claudia Sheinbaum's announcement regarding the gradual implementation of the 40-hour workweek generated positive reactions in the Chamber of Deputies from Morena and the PRI, although the latter party warned of the need to support small and medium-sized businesses so they are not affected by the amendment.
In a video message, Ricardo Monreal, coordinator of the Green Party's caucus in San Lázaro, highlighted the president's statement as good news
, because it fulfills her commitments to the working class
.
He also reiterated the announcement made by the head of the Ministry of Labor, Marath Bolaños, that consultation forums will be held between workers, employers, and stakeholders from June 2 to July 7.
We will wait for agreements so that the President can submit the initiative or the legislators themselves can formulate it and make it beneficial for the entire country; a consensual reform
, he affirmed.
For his part, the coordinator of the PRI parliamentary group in the Chamber, Rubén Moreira, considered that a 40-hour work week will be of great benefit to workers
, although at the same time he called on Morena to face the challenge, telling us the truth and with great seriousness
.
The former governor of Coahuila also emphasized that the 40-hour week should be implemented gradually. Large companies, where there is more money, should receive it immediately, and very small, small, and medium-sized companies require fiscal incentives and economic support
.
Although he supported Sheinbaum's announcement, Moreira said he hopes Morena does not mislead the country
, and cited as an example the reform approved last September to establish a minimum professional wage for full-time basic education teachers, health personnel (including doctors, nurses and administrative employees), police officers, military personnel, sailors and members of the National Guard (GN).
The amendment, according to which the minimum wage will never be lower than inflation, was voted on months ago in both chambers and is being held in the Senate
, the legislator recalled.
That's why the salaries of police officers, teachers, doctors, nurses, and soldiers aren't going up. Let the 40-hour week move forward, but let it be a reality, and let Morena not fool us
, Moreira emphasized.
Blackout in Spain due to energy privatization: Sheinbaum
Alonso Urrutia and Alma Muñoz
La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, May 3, 2025, p. 5
The model of relying solely on the privatization of electricity generation was a factor that caused the blackout in Spain, as President Pedro Sánchez admitted, and President Claudia Sheinbaum argued, while discrediting the neoliberal vision of energy.
In Mexico, he said, the privatization drive of the previous administration has been reversed, and the CFE's program for this six-year term is to produce 25,000 megawatts and ensure that the state supplies 54 percent of electricity.
In a press conference, Sheinbaum addressed the problem that arose in Spain with the blackout: the president of Spain, after various analyses that are still being carried out on what caused it, blamed private companies, because in that country there was a very strong sale of the electricity sector, which has had problems with impressive rate increases, and now the situation that was experienced
.
He highlighted the recent approval of secondary energy laws in Mexico, which will consolidate the rescue of the CFE and Pemex, after they were divided into regional subsidiaries during the neoliberal period, in preparation for privatization. We will gradually eliminate the subsidiaries with clear accounts, but without leaving such dispersion, which has not been in favor of public companies, but rather against them
.
He recalled that during Ernesto Zedillo's administration, efforts to privatize the CFE began, sparking social protests against it, led primarily by the Mexican Electricians Union.
Currently, constitutional and legal reforms allow the private sector to participate in 46 percent of the country, and this new private investment will be primarily in renewable energy.
▲ The destroyed camp was located near the San Lázaro Legislative Palace. Photo by Víctor Camacho
Jessica Xantomila and Jared Laureles
La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, May 3, 2025, p. 6
The more than 400 migrants who were relocated a month ago to Guadalupe Victoria Park, near the Candelaria Metro station, were evicted again. No authority from the Mexico City government or the Venustiano Carranza mayor's office claimed responsibility for the operation.
Starting Thursday night, the foreigners were warned by a group of people
that they had to leave their rooms immediately because they would be destroyed. Some migrants grabbed what they could of their personal belongings and returned to the esplanade of the Parish of the Holy Cross and Our Lady of Solitude in La Merced, from where they had also been removed on March 31 by the city government ahead of the Holy Week celebrations.
Unlike other evictions, dozens of people identifying themselves as neighbors used hammers and other tools to destroy the so-called "ranchos" (small huts)
, wooden rooms, and tarps yesterday morning. No city authorities were involved; only two people wearing mayoral vests, utility equipment, and cleaning workers were observed.
The settlement was inhabited primarily by Venezuelans, but also by Haitians, Cubans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, and Nicaraguans. There were families with children and pregnant women.
Compared to the relocation from this same camp a month ago, the migrants were unable to take their boards and tarps to rebuild their shelters, as these were destroyed and discarded in debris collection trucks. Furthermore, the number who returned to the parish square is much smaller than those who lived in the park.
They fear attacks and go to shelters.
Migrants interviewed indicated that this is due to some fleeing to shelters, fearing attacks, while others sought a place to rent. They also expressed frustration at being left with nothing once again and being told that the change is only for three days because the mayor's office is supposedly holding activities for Children's Day
.
They indicated that the people who came on Thursday identified themselves as alleged workers from the district and other groups in the area
.
Activists who have accompanied the migrants reported that, according to testimonies, "people from the gang have been extorting them with protection money, and there have been other incidents of violence."
A Venezuelan, who preferred to remain anonymous for security reasons, explained that the only people talking to that camp are the mafia
. He lamented that this is happening and that they are being evicted without any regard for the children. We were walking down the street in the early morning; someone helped us with a tarp
to protect us from the rain.
He mentioned that it is very difficult for migrants to rent a home because they charge 8,000 pesos or more a month, when we have a salary of 300 pesos a day
.
During the morning, a pair of agents from the National Immigration Institute arrived at the parish esplanade, and members of the Investigative Police arrived at Guadalupe Victoria Park.
Twenty-three people rescued after being abandoned by smugglers on the border with Guatemala
Edgar H. Clemente
Correspondent
La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, May 3, 2025, p. 6
Tapachula, Chis., Federal and state authorities rescued a group of 23 migrants, including two minors, who were believed to have been abandoned by human traffickers in the municipality of Tuxtla Chico, on the border with Guatemala, security sources reported.
The foreigners, 18 Haitians, four Cubans, and one Brazilian, stated in their ministerial statement that they had recently crossed into Mexico via the Suchiate River and were housed at the Las Palmeras Hotel, very close to the Talismán International Bridge.
The instruction was to wait a few days to be taken to Tapachula and Tuxtla Gutiérrez, for which they paid a thousand dollars each.
Officials explained that the so-called "smuggling couriers" charge them that amount just to bring them into the country, and that those cities are the first stopover points before continuing the journey to northern Mexico and the United States, for which they have to pay another sum of approximately $10,000.
The 23 migrants were transferred to the Siglo 21 Station of the National Migration Institute (INM) to resolve their legal status in the country.
The operation involved members of the Army, the National Guard, the National Institute of National Security (INM), the Federal Security Secretariat, the Pakal Immediate Reaction Force, and the Chiapas State Attorney General's Office.
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