UNIONS AND WHITE-COLLAR WORKERS IN MEXICO.

The article explains the lack of union activity among Mexican white-collar employees in the private sector through analyses of the status of this group and the policies of management, labor, and government. The conclusions reached concerning white-collar workers also provide information concerning broader relationships among the participants in the Mexican industrial relations system. Research on unionism in Latin America has revealed little about non-manual workers, although white-collar unions are important elements in the labor movements of several Latin America nations. Based on limited evidence, it is thought that the availability of legal protection to offset employer resistance to unionism, the existence of strong blue-collar unions, and nonmanual workers' exposure to left-wing ideologies as students would overcome the usual reluctance of white-collar workers to organize. Almost nothing is known of the exceptional case, Mexico, where nonmanual workers exposed to these influences do not join unions. Mexican white-collar workers in the private sector are seldom organized, while unions of public employees concentrate on maintaining political support for the government.