The Labor Reform in Mexico is exposing the true nature of the capitalist system. The bosses, in their dogfight to control markets and maintain their rate of profits, have forced the Mexican government to reform labor laws, and take back many of the gains that the working class fought for and won through the years, many in bloody struggles, as in Chicago and Cananea in northern Mexico.
The recently-approved Labor Reform is an insult to the struggles and dignity of the international working class. The bosses argue that the reform will generate jobs in Mexico, but it will almost certainly cause unemployment in another part of the world. This shows that the international working class has only one option: to become organized around an international party like PLP to fight for communism.
The ruling class and the government are trying to convince us that the reform will benefit workers because, they claim, it will create jobs. The reality is that the capitalist system is in the midst of a profound crisis and the bosses are less willing to honor benefits such as seventh day payments, paid vacations, utilities, and bonuses.
Under their new system, workers won’t earn seniority. Even more importantly, it allows bosses to hire workers by the hour instead of by a work-day of 8 hours. This will only mean more poverty and misery for the working class. It’s hard enough to live on 8-hour wages much less trying to survive working only 2 or 3 hours.
Labor reform is the product of inter-imperialist struggles. By approving the Labor Reform, the Mexican government creates the conditions to increase production at the price of increased misery for the working class. Currently, U.S. Imperialism is declining and facing a threat by the Chinese imperialists, who super-exploit workers and pay even lower wages. Imperialists, to maximize profits, need to decrease their labor cost, and control a docile labor force.
That’s the reason the Mexican state, which serves the interests of the imperialist ruling class, is creating these conditions, similar to those enacted elsewhere.
According to the September 2012 issue of the Mexican journal Proceso, similar New Labor Principles are being pushed in the U.S. and Peru (2009), in Panama (beginning next month), South Korea (last March) and Colombia (since last May).
Labor Reform for Bosses, Revolution and Communism for Workers
Under capitalism and class society, workers have struggled and lost their lives to secure some labor benefits. The profit nature of this system demonstrates now, once again, that any gains made by the workers can be taken away at any moment, using capitalist institutions such as the state, the courts, the police and the army. Workers must continue fighting to benefit our class, not just to reform capitalism but to destroy it with a working-class revolution.
We must fight for our class interests, fight for communism; our party, Progressive Labor Party, has that objective. The bosses are our enemies and none of their initiatives could ever benefit the working class.
We invite you to organize our class brothers and sisters in the factories, schools, communities and armies all around the world to smash capitalism with a communist revolution. We invite you to join PLP.