This editorial by Alejandro Castellano López originally appeared in the December 15, 2025 edition of Los Reporteros. The views expressed in this article are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of Mexico Solidarity Media*, or the* Mexico Solidarity Project*.*
I have carefully read the proposed law to “reduce the workweek to 40 hours.” At the same time, I clearly notice that the opposition to the current government hasn’t uttered a peep about it. I wonder why?
I remember well that once, back in the 70s, when as students part of the Struggle Committee of a Vocational School of the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), we fought alongside the settlers of San Agustín, Ciudad Azteca and La Impulsora, in the north of the metropolitan area of Mexico City, a dear comrade from whom I have not heard for a long time, told me that somewhere Che had said, “when the enemy agrees with you, be careful, something is wrong with what you are doing.”
I hope all workers will soon realize this and there will be large and powerful mobilizations towards the Congress of the Union, so that the deputies and senators who are truly left-wing react positively and modify the initiative to avoid the terrible setbacks it represents. They should also compel the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare to hire more conscientious people to serve as Labor Inspectors, thus preventing the abuses of employers and the corrupt unions that abound. While they’re at it, they should also remove the traitors Pedro Haces, Ricardo Monreal, Adán Augusto López, and the rest of this toxic element from Congress.
The reform does not seek our well-being but rather to institutionalize dependence on overtime for survival, turning rest time into just another commodity.
One of the most interesting documents I’ve read on this subject is the Statement from the National Front for the 40-Hour Workweek, issued by the San Luis Potosí Coordination, regarding the presidential initiative to reduce the workweek, which was released on December 12th. The Statement I’m referring to says, in reference to the reform, that “the government of Claudia Sheinbaum is presenting us not with the historic reform it promised, but with a trap that legalizes 12-hour and 16-hour overtime shifts, even with precarious wages. The initiative, which amends, adds to, and repeals various provisions of Section A of Article 123 of the Constitution and the Federal Labor Law, is a fraud against the working class and a brutal setback for our rights.”
Recall that current legislation allows up to 3 hours of overtime per day, paid at double time, totaling a maximum of 9 hours per week, which workers are obligated to accept. Any hours worked beyond these 9 must be agreed upon with the employer, who is then obligated to pay them at triple time. However, companies rarely comply with this; they almost always avoid paying overtime through trickery, lies, and threats, which are generally supported by the corrupt unions that are prevalent within the official labor federations.
The government doesn’t even have enough labor inspectors; there are only 600 nationwide, and the state of Yucatán has none.
I quote again the statement from the Front, which is considered the official document of the entire Front, and it says: “This proposal violates the principle of progressivity and non-regression of labor law. Instead of moving forward, it takes a step backward. It doesn’t even guarantee the two mandatory days of rest, maintaining the exploitative six-day workweek and wiping out with a stroke the hard-won weekend and the possibility of a Saturday bonus. It completely ignores all the gender, care, and health perspectives we have demanded.” I would add that in some collective bargaining agreements, this is already a workers’ victory, and now they will pay more for double hours than before, which were triple hours. Where is the progress? It’s a brutal setback! Altagracia’s hand is clearly visible.
Altagracia’s head is also visible.
The statement also denounces the contradiction in the explanatory memorandum and explains and acknowledges, to quote again, “…that reducing the length of the workweek is an imperative not only of social justice but also of public health; on the other hand, it decrees that workers will have more free time, creating an opportunity for them to use it… to work overtime. In other words, it recognizes the harm to health only to then propose that we use our scarce “free” time to continue working. The reform does not seek our well-being but rather to institutionalize dependence on overtime for survival, turning rest time into just another commodity.”
It is clear that the much-touted reform does not bring about a real reduction in the working day; on the contrary, in practice it will become a more effective tool of exploitation than what is currently established, and it is an initiative designed for the benefit of employers and against the dignity of workers.
The statement also condemns the gradual reduction to 40 hours, calling it a “sham,” and questions the current and future actions of labor authorities, who clearly respond to the interests of employers. They don’t even have enough labor inspectors; there are only 600 nationwide, and the state of Yucatán, for example, has none, while most of the inspectors in the other states aren’t even rank-and-file employees. This is an aberration of the self-proclaimed leftist 4T (Fourth Transformation), which today seems to have died at the hands of deputies, cabinet secretaries, senators, and “prominent” members of MORENA (National Regeneration Movement).
The reform is unacceptable and only the Honorable Congress of the Union can prevent this aberration and betrayal against the working class of this country.
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Christmas Without a Bonus for 13.7 Million Workers
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Mexico’s Scrooge-like employers evade their legal obligation because most employees are informal workers.
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A Bosses’ Trap?
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Mexico’s much-touted 40 hour workweek reform does not bring about a real reduction in the working day; on the contrary, it will become a more effective tool of exploitation and is an initiative designed for the benefit of employers and against the dignity of workers.
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People’s Mañanera December 16
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President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, with comments on pharmaceuticals supply, social housing lottery, CDMX Congress fiasco, Ultra-right victory in Chile and H3N2 alert.
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