USA Today has another feature story out of Mexico in today's paper about age discrimination that apparently in widespread. The American system is far from perfect, but it seems to me that that American labor laws and the well-known workers' rights make an enormous difference in the lives of millions of Americans who might otherwise be passed over for jobs. The prohibition of age discrimination has been law for more than thirty years. See these excerpts from the USA Today article:

Although slimy hiring practices are widespread in Mexico — want ads for female secretaries with "good presentation" are notorious — age discrimination is the most common, labor-rights groups say.

The practice robs Mexico's economy of experienced workers, discourages people from investing time in post-graduate degrees that could help the country advance and drives professionals into the vast, untaxed sector of odd jobs and street vending, experts said. It also happens to be illegal, but Mexico's labor laws are rarely enforced.

Mexican authorities admit they are lax in enforcing laws against age discrimination.

Mexico's Law to Prohibit and Eliminate Discrimination also outlaws age-based hiring practices but does not specify a punishment.

Still, only three people submitted complaints about age discrimination to the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination that year, according to the annual report of the government-run agency.

The offenders aren't just Mexican companies. In one recent newspaper ad, Office Depot, of Delray Beach, Fla., sought a checkout supervisor age 22 to 35 for a store in a Mexico City suburb.