The Business of Labor in Mexico

Introduction:
Labor laws in Mexico have taken a back seat to what has become the business of labor. This essay will examine salaries, healthcare and infrastructure in the developing country.

Background:
In the second half of the 20th century Mexico became an attractive site to international investors. They have brought their businesses to Mexico and taken advantage of low minimum wages and an agile workforce. Currently a Mexican, by law, must earn a minimum of $55.00 Mexican pesos (approximately $4.20 USD) a day (constituting 8 hours of labor). This amount might sound alarmingly low to some but in recent years many foreign investors have withdrawn from Mexico because other countries have offered lower wages and less regulation.

The Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social or IMSS (a national, government run healthcare program) went into effect during the end of WWII. Through the years laws have been passed, reforms have been made and the Mexican government has regulated the program. Workers that are covered by this program, through their employer, receive full benefits as a monthly deduction is made to their paycheck. In recent years a program called Seguro Popular (Public Insurance) was created to cover the healthcare needs of individuals who are not covered by the IMSS.

Infrastructure is funded by federal, state, municipal and private grant programs. It is developed in accordance to the economic capacity of each area. Housing is primarily financed by the INFONAVIT credit program (a national fund that gives loans to Mexican workers for the purchase of residential homes) and is supervised by the government. Many areas within the country remain without electricity, public lighting, water supply, sewers and/or paved roads.

Conclusion:
Weakness in these public programs, caused by the continuous devaluation of Mexican currency and the ambience of scandal and corruption many public officials are notoriously in, has left the Mexican people with a sense of disillusion towards their own system. Unemployment is on the rise. Physicians, healthcare workers and the public perceive services provided by the IMSS and Seguro Popular under par due to the government’s poor handling of it. The size of an average Mexican house has continually shrunk (the average property measures 5 meters by 15 meters; homes are under 50 squared meters) because of lacking economic growth. The absence of electricity, water supply and paved roads allows for crime and disease to flourish.

Mexicans have lost trust in their system, losing the sense of community and the well-being of the whole, posing a threat to its future. As this individualist approach rises and concern for the well being of the popular mass diminishes the effects have become apparent: indifference towards the rest and cynicism towards the future.