arbiter
JournalsPricingAccount

Employer Protection Unionism, Resilient: A View from Mexico’s Call Center Sector

Hilary Goodfriend

Journal of Labor and Society2026https://doi.org/10.1163/24714607-bja10217article
ABDC C
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

Abstract In this article, I explore the history and evolution of the Atento call center corporation’s use of employer protection unions in Mexico between 2001 and 2025. Drawing from primary source documents newly available through the Repositorio de Información del Registro Laboral (Labor Registry Information Repository) archive of the Centro Federal de Conciliación y Registro Laboral (Federal Labor Conciliation and Registration Center), as well as interviews with key actors, I map the distribution of 27 Atento protection contracts between four Atento subsidiaries and four employer protection unions across eleven jurisdictions. I show how the adjudication of Atento’s protection contracts shifted over time in response to worker-friendly changes in Mexico’s labor governance regime and labor struggles at Atento worksites. I find, however, that protection unionism at Atento proved resilient, surviving the 2019 labor reform despite significant challenges from above and below.

Open paper page →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1163/24714607-bja10217

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{hilary2026,
  title        = {{Employer Protection Unionism, Resilient: A View from Mexico’s Call Center Sector}},
  author       = {Hilary Goodfriend},
  journal      = {Journal of Labor and Society},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1163/24714607-bja10217},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

Employer Protection Unionism, Resilient: A View from Mexico’s Call Center Sector

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.