Trade Union Specialist Asks Government to Modify Digital Platform Worker Reform

ByMexico Solidarity

This article by Jared Laureles originally appeared in the September 24, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Mexico City. To achieve the federal government’s goal of ensuring that at least 300,000 digital platform workers per month have full social security, it is necessary to reduce the exclusion percentages used to calculate the monthly income of drivers and delivery people, said Ángel Pazos, coordinator of the Trade Union Dialogue at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. [The Friedrich Ebert Foundation is the German-government funded foundation of the Social Democratic Party of Germany – Editor]

At a press conference, he recalled that the results of the second month of the pilot test for people who work on digital platforms showed that of the 1.2 million workers affiliated with the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), only 133,178 (13.6 percent of the total) exceeded the monthly net income (NMI) threshold.

Therefore, he warned that the criteria used to calculate this income limits platform workers’ access to the five insurance policies established by the IMSS law, including general medical care, daycare, retirement savings, and disability pensions.

The INM is calculated based on the worker’s total income, less the exclusion percentage, the latter representing the cost of work tools.

The first phase of the pilot plan concludes this month. The second phase will take place between October and December 2025.

“The big question is what percentage will be taken in January (2026), when the law is fully implemented,” Pazos noted.

He explained that next month, a 36 percent exclusion rate will be applied to platform workers who drive cars, requiring them to earn more than 13,000 pesos.

Those who provide services via motorcycle must earn 11,948 pesos, as they will be subject to a 30 percent exclusion factor.

For those who do not use motorized vehicles, they will receive 9,500 pesos, with a 12 percent exclusion.

The specialist mentioned that it’s important for digital platform companies to recognize workers’ full online time and added that they should also cover the cost of some work tools, such as backpacks, cell phones, and gasoline.