ABSTRACT
In the labor relations field, the transformation of labor markets, both external and internal, modified the way in which matters such as horizontal and vertical mobility, layoffs, subcontracting, and payment systems were managed. This chapter makes one to observe a continuing decrease of the historic leverage that the Mexican labor movement had within the political system and a deterioration of the power of local unions, where rank-and-file workers lost the influence they could command on shop-floor workers. The creation of a national social security system provided both free health and retirement benefits for salaried workers through institutions such as the Mexican Institute for Social Security (IMSS) and the Social Security Institute for Workers at the Service of the State (ISSSTE). Economically speaking, the Mexican gross domestic product (GDP) experienced negative growth rates in 1982, 1983, 1986, 1995, and 2001, and very low positive rates in the other years.
