The Enactment of the Federal Labor Law, 1925–1931

This chapter examines the enactment of the federal labor law in Mexico between 1925 and 1931, beginning with CROM's (Confederación Regional Obrera Mexicana) attempts in 1925 to pass a law and business ambivalence toward it. It then looks at the attempts of Plutarco Elías Calles and Luis N. Morones to regulate labor relations in strategic, economic sectors such as railroads and how these were affected by the Confederación de Transportes y Comunicaciones's strike in 1927. It also considers Emilio Portes Gil's attempt to pass a federal labor code and the promulgation of legislation under Pascual Ortiz Rubio. The chapter argues that the enactment of the federal labor law was a state project that many of the important officials directly involved in the drafting of the 1931 legislation were sympathetic to managerial interests and hostile to the CROM, and that the 1931 labor law did not alienate major U.S. business interests. It also contends that the federal labor law was part of the institutionalization of industrial relations in the country.