Isabella Carter
The Mexican Constitution of 1917, still in force almost a century later, introduced an advanced labour code that transformed workers' rights in the country. Article 123 of the constitution established an eight-hour workday, a six-day workweek, a minimum wage, and equal pay for equal work. It also gave workers the right to organize, bargain collectively, and strike. The constitution also mandated free, secular public education, guaranteed workers' rights, and limited the rights of the Roman Catholic Church. It provided the basis for today's Mexican government, influencing later socialist revolutions and constitutions, including the Weimar Constitution of 1919 in Germany and the Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Constitution of 1918 in Russia.
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What You'll Learn
The eight-hour workday
The Mexican Constitution of 1917, still in force almost a century later, has 137 articles that define citizenship, organise a government, mandate land reform, and enumerate basic human rights for all Mexicans. The constitution was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in the State of Querétaro, Mexico, by a constituent convention during the Mexican Revolution. It was approved by the Constituent Congress on 5 February 1917, and was later amended several times.
Article 123 of the Constitution of 1917 established an eight-hour workday, a six-day workweek, a minimum wage, and equal pay for equal work. It gave both labour and capital the right to organise, and workers gained the right to bargain collectively and strike. This article was perhaps the most radical of the provisions of the 1917 Constitution and was intended to give the working class relief from the many abuses and hardships they had previously faced from uncontrolled labour managers.
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Workers' right to strike
The Mexican Constitution of 1917, still in force today, introduced an advanced labour code that significantly transformed workers' rights in the country. Article 123 of the constitution established workers' right to strike. It also set a legal basis for unionization and other workers' rights, placing Mexico at the forefront of international labour activism.
Article 123 was the first constitutional article to discuss social rights, and it directly influenced later socialist revolutions and constitutions worldwide. It established essential legal frameworks for unionization, outlawed debt peonage, and set regulations mandating an eight-hour workday, a six-day workweek, and minimum wage laws. It also created government standards to benefit workers' health and safety and required states to pass laws to benefit workers.
The labour code emerged in the context of widespread labour unrest following decades of exploitation. The violent repression of the 1906 miners' strike in Cananea, Sonora, in northwestern Mexico, is a notable example. The influence of Article 123 extended beyond its immediate provisions, fuelling the growth of labour unions and collective activism throughout Mexico. Organisations such as the Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers (CROM) and the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM) built on this framework to advocate for improved wages and working conditions.
The right to strike was recognised as a legitimate tool in labour-management relations. Strikes were deemed legal when they aimed to attain equilibrium among the various factors of production by harmonising labour rights with capital rights. In public services, workers were obligated to give notice ten days in advance to the Board of Conciliation and Arbitration of their intent to strike. Strikes were only considered illegal when the majority of strikers engaged in acts of violence against persons or property or during wartime for workers in government establishments or services.
The Constitution of 1917 also addressed other issues, such as mandating land reform, defining national citizenship, outlining associated rights, specifying freedoms of foreigners, and enumerating basic human rights for all Mexicans. It also included provisions for wealth redistribution to promote equal opportunities for indigenous peoples and eliminate discriminatory practices.
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Social security
The Mexican Constitution of 1917, still in force almost a century later, has 137 articles that define citizenship, organise a government, mandate land reform, and enumerate basic human rights for all Mexicans. The document was ratified on 5 February 1917 and included provisions for social security and labour laws.
Article 123 established an eight-hour workday, a six-day workweek, a minimum wage, and equal pay for equal work. It gave workers the right to organise, collectively bargain, and strike. The article also applied to day labourers, domestic servants, and artisans.
The Constitution outlined that social security should be organised on the following minimum bases: it shall cover work accidents and occupational diseases, non-occupational illness and maternity; and retirement, disability, old age, and death. Workers were also protected in the event of unjustifiable discharge, with the right to choose between reinstatement or appropriate indemnity, as well as protection in the case of abolished positions.
The law was to encourage and protect economic activities performed by individuals and cooperatives, with a focus on the social sector, including farming cooperatives, workers' organisations, and communities. The government was also permitted to repurpose land not used "appropriately" for the public good, and cooperative societies could construct low-cost and hygienic houses for workers to purchase on instalment.
The Constitution also outlined that public security was a responsibility of the Federation, the Federal District, the States, and the Municipalities or Municipal Councils, with the activities of police institutions governed by the principles of legality, efficiency, professionalism, integrity, objectivity, honesty, and respect for human rights.
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Land reform
The Mexican Constitution of 1917, which is still in force, contains 137 articles that define citizenship, organise a government, mandate land reform, and enumerate basic human rights for all Mexicans. The constitution was drafted in November 1916 by Mexico's new political class, mostly middle-class reformers, who were young, ambitious, and relatively apolitical.
Article 27 of the constitution mandated that lands taken from the peasantry during the Porfiriato had to be returned, even if they did not have written titles. It also gave the government the power to take all land not used "appropriately" and repurpose it for the public good. This article was influenced by Andrés Molina Enríquez, who is considered the intellectual father of Article 27. His 1909 book, *Los Grandes Problemas Nacionales* (The Great National Problems), laid out his analysis of Mexico's unequal land tenure system and his vision of land reform.
The constitution also forbade foreigners from owning land within 100 km of a national border or 50 km of the sea. It recognised villages' rights to land and the power of the state over subsoil rights. It also established the basis for the ejido system, which was created to protect peasants' rights to land. Ejidos are farming cooperatives where land is owned by the government and communal in nature, with only one ejido membership allotted per family.
While President Carranza's government set up a bureaucracy to deal with land reform, it sought to limit the implementation of any sweeping changes favourable to the peasantry. Many landlords whose estates had been expropriated had their land restored to them during the Carranza era. It was not until President Lázaro Cárdenas took power that land reform was revitalised. Between 1936 and 1938, he distributed most of the land, expropriating some 448,000 hectares in the Comarca Lagunera, of which 150,000 were irrigated.
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Separation of Church and State
The Mexican Constitution of 1917, a product of the Mexican Revolution, had a profound impact on the country's workers, addressing various social and economic issues. One of its key aspects was the separation of church and state, which was a significant shift in Mexico's political and social landscape.
The Constitution of 1917 included several anticlerical and anti-religious provisions, which were a strong reaction to the privileged position that the Catholic Church had held in Mexico for centuries. This marked a period of cultural secularization in Mexico, with the Constitution proclaiming that the Catholic Church was under the control of the government and had no legal personality.
Article 3:
Article 3 established free, mandatory, and secular public education, free from clerical supervision. This secularized the Mexican state and ensured that education was based on scientific progress, fostering independence and justice.
Articles 5 and 24:
These articles restricted the existence of religious orders and confined church services to within church buildings. This caused concern among Mexican citizens who valued their religious practices.
Article 130:
Article 130 denied clergy the right to exercise political rights and prevented the Church from being recognized as a legal entity. It also prohibited priests from wearing their clerical gowns outside of churches and deprived them of the right to vote or hold office.
Article 18:
While not specifically mentioned in the Constitution of 1917, the separation of church and state was further emphasized in subsequent amendments, such as Article 18, which guaranteed freedom of religion and prohibited religious discrimination.
The implementation of these anti-clerical and anti-religious articles in the Constitution of 1917 sparked clashes between the Mexican Government and the Catholic Church, known as the Cristero Rebellion. This conflict led to a loosening of the religious stipulations in the late 1920s, with further reforms in 1994, restoring some rights to churches.
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Frequently asked questions
The Constitution of 1917 introduced an advanced labour code that transformed workers' rights in Mexico. Article 123 established an eight-hour workday, a six-day workweek, a minimum wage, and equal pay for equal work. It also gave workers the right to organise, bargain collectively, and strike.
The Constitution of 1917 also established free, obligatory, and secular public education, independent of the Church. It also guaranteed workers' rights, limited the rights of the Roman Catholic Church, and widened the educational base to include primary school availability for the masses.
The Constitution of 1917 provided a legal framework for the organisation and expansion of economic activity in the social sector, including farming cooperatives, workers' organisations, and cooperatives. It also encouraged and protected economic activities carried out by private individuals and promoted competitiveness in various industries.
