Untying loose ends: Mexico’s law sector seeks economic development

12 Jul Untying loose ends: Mexico’s law sector seeks economic development

Tomás Natividad Sánchez, Founding Partner, Natividad Abogados, discusses the importance of legislative reform in services and labor and the country’s close ties with the U.S.

What is your assessment of Mexico’s services and labor legislation?

In 1970, the mechanism for the rendering of services was changed by means of new legislation, and we have been trying to redress structural issues from it ever since. It is a difficult task. In 1997 to 2002, small change was achieved, but there was a change in the government that left all previous work unfinished. Corporatism is an issue that requires great structural change.

Mexico’s labor union system is complicated. With the constitutional amendment, a schism was generated in the legal sector. Each labor union movement, both at the state and the municipal level, is recorded. Labor lawyers should be professionally updated, because there will be important changes in the legal sector with the emergence of the labor institute and regulatory reform.

How has Mexico done to elevate its labor profile?

In 2015, minimum wage was unified. It is a parameter and indicator of the legal and financial situations in the country. What is fixed at the minimum wages commission is what rules both at contractual and payroll levels. It is fixed to inflation. The Measurement and Update Unit was born in 2016 under the idea that everything related to laws and legal regulations should be established by them. Recently, the Independent Recovery Amount was created; it is a minimum wage increase with a projection. Raising the minimum wage is necessary to advance the country.

What is your assessment of the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico?

I was born in Ciudad Juárez; I am from the north. I have seen the close relationship between these two countries and collaborating economies all my life. Our trade agreements will continue. There is no doubt some brotherhood. Investors feel confident to invest in Mexico because there are specialized people and proven gains through outsourcing production in several sectors, including the automotive sector. The Bajío region has benefited from the opening of this complementary economy. We are working on this along with other success stories.

What kind of services does Natividad Abogados provide for its clients and the country?

I founded the law firm around 40 years ago along with a group of lawyers while leading the Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic or Coparmex. We now have law firms in 72 cities and offer financial bank services. We offer our services to a wide number of insurance companies. We are also present in the automotive industry with Mexican, French and German auto-part companies as clients. We also merge companies and supervise hiring of services, which many firms do not do. Managing large strikes and conflicts is our subspeciality. Our trial lawyers work in metropolitan and joint areas. We offer correspondence services through a transportation network. Our competitive advantage is our clear technique. We do not participate in labor union business. We participate in profit sharing and the right to profit. The right-to-profit-sharing policies were well planned, but official labor unions are very powerful and have been perverting them. We currently have a law firm with more than 70 lawyers specializing in labor laws.