Western Maquila Association June 2011 Mexican Supreme Court Rulings 92/2011, 93/2011 and LVII/2011 to offer the possibility of employees to claim any balance in their housing fund savings.

In accordance with the law of INFONAVIT the employers must pay to all employees 5% of the salary towards the housing benefits of the employee. The employees are able to use such funds to make the down payment on low income housing (vivienda de interés social), usually most employees purchase such hosing with their housing savings account and pay the balance with their salary by means of INFONAVIT or related credit. In some cases the employees for several reasons do not exercise this right. They end their work cycle and retire with hosing funds that were not used by the worker to purchase housing. Background.

INFONAVIT law on transit article eight says that once the worker finishes his labor cycle, any payments that the employers made after the end of June 1997 to the housing savings account (Subcuenta de vivienda) were to be sent to the federal treasury to pay for the workers pension. This article was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, however a contradiction as to the refund of such funds was created by the lower courts on issues related to what was the moment for the retired worker to fight the resolution that transfers the housing funds to the federal treasury and the effect of the amparo procedure as far as is the funds were to be reimbursed to the workers. On may 18 and , the Supreme Court issued rulings 92/2011, 93/2011 and LVII/2011 that resolve the contradiction of the lower courts and issue several rights to the employees that have not claimed this housing funds.

New rights to the workers and possible actions from the maquila industry The new rulings state that the INFONAVIT law is unconstitutional because the housing savings are different then the pension of the employees, and that the law had no right to mix the accounts up to use the housing savings to pay for the pension retirement. Because of this any employees that did not use their housing savings funds, may request the INFONAVIT for a refund. INFONAVIT will deny the refund arguing article eight obligated them to transfer funds to the federal treasury and the worker may present a current amparo motion to reimburse their hosing savings fund no latter then 15 days after the resolution is issued.

The effect of this motion will be that the employees will be refunded their housing savings paid by the employer during their labor life. This is a benefit that applies to the employees, and because some managers and directors are or were in some cases paid their salary by the Mexican Maquiladora, they have funds in the housing savings account that may be applicable for a refund. We encourage the Maquila community to extend this information to the retired workers that are in this situation so that they may obtain the refund. New rights from resolutions.-

Adrián Ocampo (619)