Labor relations establish links between employers and workers and are essential for the smooth running of

companies, factories, and service providers. In general, they are the guiding force behind the proper

functioning of the labor community and its workplace. The history of labor unions is not easy; its complexity

allows us to understand the different movements throughout history in search of better working conditions and

social justice. From differences in paid activities to the establishment of working hours, labor relations range

from the most basic to the most elaborate activities. In the field of education, it is possible to find that the

relations between the academic workforce and the employers are a good example for analyzing the importance

of academic unionism, particularly at the university level. In this way, university unionism not only has the

need to defend the human condition through the protection of rights and equality. From the guilds of the 17th

century and the trade districts of the 18th century to the great movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries,

history shows the struggle and organization to avoid occupational hazards, exhausting working hours, child

labor, and a lack of commitment to employer obligations [3].

The truth is that deprivation, hunger, unemployment, job instability, and lack of compensation for occupational

hazards drove workers, artisans, laborers, and most of all, peasants who had migrated to urban centers, to seek

out mutual aid societies and production and consumer cooperatives, centers of speculation, awareness, and

struggle for the defense and achievement of their subsistence. In this way, the groups became societies of

resistance against employers and the state, representing a possible serious precursor to trade unionism in

Mexico [8].

demanding too much and lacking a vision of the market and production.

As Blanke [1] points out, trade unions in Mexico originated during the development of the welfare state, which

benefited the establishment of highly bureaucratized and large-scale organizations and institutions. in some

cases, unions became part of the state, and class struggle was replaced by negotiation within the state; union

representation was limited to the union's ability to achieve good economic and material exchanges with the

state and employers through large agreements; The representation of workers' interests was indirect, although

it did negotiate real wage increases, benefits, job guarantees, and the extension of social security. The

democracy formally established in the union statutes had nothing to do with the decisions made by the rank

and file, which was controlled but not necessarily illegitimate. Although decisions were difficult, the grassroots

struggle for real improvements did not end. In this sense, it is possible to affirm that The transformation of the

globalization [1].

In this area and with very similar purposes, educational unionism emerged, within which university unionism,

whose characteristics are specific to the activities of higher and upper secondary education taught at

universities, is generated through the principle of freedom, whether in teaching or research, the two fields

where autonomy bears enormous fruit for society by training professionals and generating knowledge, thus

fulfilling the social character of the university [2]. The word “university” comes from the concept of

universities is the conscience of the nation. Therefore, the state has an obligation to protect their integrity and

encourage their full development. Despite countless limitations, problems, and even attacks on autonomy,

valued, or addressed [5]. Public universities are particularly affected by the substantial reductions in their

financial resources; the subsidy that the federal government provides to these institutions is becoming

increasingly insufficient, to the detriment of teaching, research, and cultural outreach programs. These

economic phenomena, which are completely beyond the control of public universities, are causing a gradual

and serious deterioration in higher education in our country. The money currently allocated to public

universities is only enough for their subsistence; it does not encourage them to achieve academic excellence

[6].

In this sense, we are seeking a way for unions and employers to join forces for the benefit of the university

community. For example, through the Federal Labor Law, which establishes that in public and autonomous

institutions that provide higher education, labor relations are directed toward seeking social justice among

Unions of academic and administrative workers at the university, as the case may be, and the leadership of

those unions, can only be made up of workers who provide their services at each university. Workers from

different universities cannot join together in a university union. This provision helps to preserve university

autonomy [7].

In contrast, general legislation provides for industrial unions, made up of workers who provide their services in

two or more companies in the same industrial branch, and national industry unions, made up of workers who

provide their services in one or more companies in the same industrial branch, located in two or more federal

entities.

Unions at each university may be for academic staff, administrative staff, etc. In collective agreements, labor

provisions relating to academic workers do not extend to administrative workers, nor do labor provisions for

administrative workers cover academic workers, except where expressly agreed in collective agreements [3].

It is important to consider that the struggle to improve working conditions is a long road. The beginning of the

labor relationship was formed through dissatisfaction with the deplorable conditions in which the work was

committed to society from a universal vision of culture, science, and comprehensive knowledge.

University unionism cannot and must not be silenced; it must fight and focus its energies on improving the

working conditions of its members; that is its natural and legitimate function. Universities are the mind of the

country, they are the temple of knowledge from which the voice and reason that guide society emerge.

That is why we must learn from the past, reflect on the present, and visualize the future through university

union work in order to achieve labor and institutional stability and consolidate the university project with

firmness and conviction.

1. Blanke, S. (2007). El sindicalismo mexicano: entre la marginación y la recomposición. NUEVA

SOCIEDAD No 211, 15.

5. Lucassen, Jan. (2014). The History of Work and Labour. Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische

Geschiedenis/ The Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History. 11. 65-83.

10.18352/tseg.132

6. Machicado, J. (2010). Sindicalismo y Sindicato. https://ermoquisbert.tripod.com/pdfs/dt19-

sindicato.pdf

7. Morales Owseykoff, T. & Olivares Galván, H R (2022). El sindicalismo universitario en México y las

relaciones laborales. Horizontes de la Contaduría en las Ciencias Sociales, (16).

8. Santos Azuela, H. (1994). El sindicalismo en México 1a. ed. Porrúa.

9. Zárate, R. L. (2022). El sindicalismo universitario. PRIMERA PARTE, 95.