AMLO’s attack on the judiciary and labor rights | Article

TO Rogelio Muñiz Toledo

“I also extend the greatest solidarity to all the personnel of the Judiciary of the Federation… for my part, I vigorously reiterate that they are our priority. Like all citizens, we have constitutional and customary rights and deserve full security to exercise our functions.”

Norma Lucia Piña Hernandez*

Addendum to Article 224 of the Organic Law on the Judiciary of the Federation, proposed by President López Obrador and approved by the parliamentary majority of Morena and its allies in the Congress of the Union. This is an attack – in the sense of the fourth meaning of the term: “abuse of any power” – against the labor rights of more than 50 thousand workers of the Judiciary of the Federation (PJF).

According to the 2023 National Census of the Federal Office of Justice published by INEGI: “At the end of 2022, 54,388 civil servants worked in the judiciary of the federation”. Of those, 37,651 were essential workers. Their work resulted in almost a million proposals being published in 2022; Of these, 972,506 are the result of the work carried out every day by employees of the courts and tribunals of the PSF across the country.

According to the above-mentioned INEGI census:

During 2022, 1,256,077 cases were referred to the jurisdictional bodies of the Federal Judicial Council in all cases, while the number of resolved cases was 1,214,806. Compared to 2021, this is an increase of 17.7% and 23.6%, respectively.

Despite these data, everything indicates that both the President of the Republic and the legislators of Morena and their allies are unable to understand that the administration of justice is a public good and an important function in any democratic state governed by the rule of law and that, in accordance with the Constitution and international treaties, no concessions in the field of labor rights are acceptable.

These 4T rulers who call themselves leftists fail to understand that there is no rationality or austerity in public spending that justifies regressiveness in terms of labor rights. Nothing justifies violating the rights of PJF workers, much less depriving them of their contributions to funds intended to cover labor benefits.

If this legal reform is not overturned by jurisdictional means, the implications for workers’ labor rights due to the disappearance of the PJF trusts would be very serious; as much as the harmful effects of the offensive that underlies this reform and which calls into question the budgetary autonomy and independence of the PJF will be directed towards the separation of powers and constitutional democracy. It is insulting that since the beginning of his administration and the failed Fourth Transformation, the President of the Republic has undertaken this with particular devotion before the Supreme Court of the country, because López Obrador is concerned about the counterbalances established by the Constitution as part of the political system.

The President of the Republic’s attacks on the representatives of the judiciary were intensified by his hostility to the PJF, motivated by the fact that the judges, magistrates and ministers acted in accordance with their functions of checking the constitutionality of acts of power and did not submit to the wishes or efforts of the vanity of the occupant of the National Palace.

The harmful consequences of this legal reform, carried out by order of President López Obrador, will affect the functioning and activities of PJF and, especially seriously, the legal security of its workers in the performance of their functions, as Minister Piña Hernández noted, due to the regressive nature of their labor rights.

Something similar would have happened with the implementation of the pre-election “Plan B”, which, fortunately, was declared invalid by the Supreme Court. If this electoral reform were to prevail, the implications for the labor rights of the National Electoral Institute’s staff would be as serious as the damage to democracy. President López Obrador has never worried that his attacks on institutions seriously affect workers’ rights. The case of labor conflict at Notimex is another example of this.

Although at the initiative of Deputy Ignacio Mier – President López Obrador’s representative for the promotion of this reform and coordinator of the Morena parliamentary group – he proposed the liquidation of 13 of the 14 PJF trusts (6 from the Judicial Council, 6 from the Supreme Court and 2 from the Electoral Tribunal), from the conclusions of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate is clear that there will only be 12 trusts that will be wound up (the Administration of Justice Trust and the Judgment Management Trust). from “Dispersed Collective Actions”).

In any case, if this reform prevails and 12 or 13 PJF trusts are liquidated as a result of its application, serious harm will be caused to the workers of the said branch of the Union.

The Senate resolution leaves no room for doubt in this regard. In it you can read:

Based on an analysis of trusts on the record sent by the co-legislator that would subsequently be revoked, the current Joint Commissions determine that some trusts qualify for benefits that may be related to labor rights.

Although the Senate resolution states that the provisions of the THIRD transitional article of the reform decree provide protection for labor rights that may be affected, the truth is that its wording leaves serious doubts about the guarantee of all rights acquired by PJF workers. are protected.

Especially considering that the projected cuts to the PJF budget for 2024, as part of the offensive of the President of the Republic, may lead to adjustments in the expenditure of this power that will prevent it from fulfilling labor obligations, which, if applicable, should be addressed through trust funds. The situation could worsen in subsequent fiscal years if Claudia Sheinbaum becomes Lopez Obrador’s successor and is responsible for continuing the attacks on PJF.

The good news is that the parliamentary opposition is already preparing a claim of unconstitutionality to challenge the reform, and that workers have initiated legal actions – through amparo – asking to protect Union justice from this flagrant violation of their labor rights. The obvious unconstitutionality of the reform and the defects of the parliamentary process, condemned by opposition legislators (Morena once again violates legal procedures in the legislative branch), should lead to its invalidity.

There is no doubt that it is important to ensure the effectiveness of the principles of transparency, austerity and accountability, and to undertake a comprehensive review of the polity to eliminate privileges and excesses in public spending. But this review requires an orderly effort that is the product of rational analysis and public debate, that respects workers’ rights and ensures the regular functioning of institutions.

* Minister Norma Lucia Piña Hernández is the President of the country’s Supreme Court and the Federal Judicial Council.