"Uber, meet unions": An unhappy introduction

MXPE Weekly Essentials ft. giving houses to squatters, a bright spot in US-Mexico cooperation, and other highlights in Mexican politics, policy, and markets from the past week.

MXPE Weekly Essentials. Only the most important news in Mexican politics, policy, and markets from the past week.

An entrepreneur or company expanding into Mexico has a lot to worry about. Labour unions are probably nowhere near the top of their concerns. This week showed, they probably should be.

The business model on which ride-hailing and delivery apps—like Uber—run revolutionised how we move our stuff and ourselves around. A crucial part of this model was the companies’ relationship with their employees, or better said “partners.” This freelance status, giving workers flexibility to work whenever they want or forcing them into working poverty at the mercy of an uncaring algorithm, has been the raging debate all over the world for years.

That debate changed substantially in Mexico starting yesterday as a new law came into force. It was then that Mexican delivery app partners became full-employed workers in the eyes of the government. This doesn’t mean they are legally fully contracted workers, but rather something in between, predictably upsetting parties on all sides—and affecting the sector’s power dynamics in unexpected ways.