Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 346, June 2007

Case No 2338 (Mexico) - Complaint date: 19-APR-04 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 120. When previously examining the case in March 2006, the Committee requested the Government to take the measures necessary to ensure that the authorities of the State of Morelos carried out an inquiry into the alleged assault of workers of the enterprise CONFITALIA SA de CV who were on picket lines and to request the Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board of the State of Morelos to provide the reasons why it had not initiated the procedure for determining the circumstances of the strike [see 340th Report, para. 138].
2. 121. In its communication of 23 January 2007, the Government states that the Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board of the State of Morelos declared that Cases Nos 02/580/01 and 02/481/01 fall within its purview. Both cases result from the holding of a strike because of violation of the collective labour agreement concluded between the Progressive Trade Union of Mexican In-Bond Industry Workers (SPTIMRM) and the enterprise CONFITALIA SA de CV It specifies that, on 28 April 2006, the plenary session of the Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board of the State of Morelos handed down a decision to the effect that, inter alia, it had resolved to sentence CONFITALIA SA de CV to payment and settlement of the following:
3. – wages due but unpaid;
4. – holiday pay for the entire period of service;
5. – payment of 75 per cent of the real amount of workers’ wages, by virtue of the concept of paid holidays for the entire period of service;
6. – payment of wages due, from the date when work was suspended until 28 April 2006 when the relevant decision was handed down;
7. – payment of compensation amounting to three months’ minimum salary as laid down in article 123, section A, clause XXI, of the Constitution of the United States of Mexico;
8. – payment of a long-service bonus; and
9. – payment of compensation consisting of 20 days’ wages for each year of service, in terms of the considerations and circumstances contained in the documentary evidence and the decision respectively.
10. 122. Likewise, the Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board of the State of Morelos states that, on 26 May 2006, the SPTIMR initiated a direct amparo action (appeal for the enforcement of constitutional rights) against the ruling in question, deeming that it infringed the guarantees concerning grounds and reasons provided in articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of Mexico, as explained. On the same date, the union – which represented CONFITALIA SA de CV because the company had declared bankruptcy – declined to comply with the final decision given by the aforementioned board and initiated an amparo action in which it requested the suspension of the ruling in question.
11. 123. Currently, both amparo procedures are duly under way and have been brought before the competent collegiate circuit court so that that federal authority will be cognizant of and make a decision on the cases in question.
12. 124. The Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board of the State of Morelos undertakes to abide lawfully by the decision of the competent collegiate circuit court, and will comply with any final judgement handed down.
13. 125. The Committee notes this information and the decisions of the Conciliation and Arbitration Board of the State of Morelos which appear to cover payment of compensation and of salaries relating to the period of the strike, and which have been appealed, and requests the Government to communicate any decision handed down by the collegiate circuit court on the amparo actions brought by both parties. Furthermore, the Committee reiterates its previous recommendation that the authorities of the State of Morelos should conduct an inquiry into the allegations of attacks against workers of the enterprise CONFITALIA SA de CV and inform the Committee of the reasons why the Conciliation and Arbitration Board of the State of Morelos has not initiated the procedure for determining the circumstances of the strike.