Mexico, US Cooperating on First Rapid Response Case, With New Union Election Ordered

A day after Mexico's Labor Department announced it would require a new union vote at a General Motors plant -- and that it referred the case to state authorities for a criminal investigation -- the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced it is asking Mexico to review whether workers at the GM factory in Silao were being denied labor rights. That makes the GM case the first for the new rapid response mechanism, since the Biden administration has not yet decided whether it will pursue the AFL-CIO complaint announced May 10.

Mexico's government said the late April vote on whether to retain a protection union had such "serious irregularities" that it invalidated the vote.

USTR Katherine Tai said on May 12 that using the USMCA rapid response mechanism "supports Mexico’s efforts to implement its recent labor law reforms. I commend the Mexican government for stepping in to suspend the vote when it became aware of voting irregularities. Today’s action will complement Mexico’s efforts to ensure that these workers can fully exercise their collective bargaining rights."

The Mexican government wrote in Spanish that a second round of voting, which has to happen in the next month, "must be carried out in conditions that guarantee the safety and accessibility of the workers, to provide certainty that their vote will be cast in a peaceful, personal, free, secret and direct manner, without coercion or intimidation."

Mexico said the overturning of the election shows its commitment to uphold "the rights of union democracy and collective bargaining, and enforce the principles established in the Constitution, in the Federal Labor Law and in the international agreements and treaties that Mexico has signed on labor matters." That last phrase refers to the USMCA.

If the U.S. decides that Mexico did not properly remedy a violation at the GM factory, the tariff benefits of the products of that factory could be rescinded, and so Tai noted that she asked that final liquidation of customs accounts be suspended until either Mexico and the U.S. agree there is no denial of rights, or a panel determines there is no denial of rights (see 1912110012).

A GM spokeswoman said the company supports the right of employees to make their own choices about union representation. "GM condemns violations of labor rights and actions to restrict collective bargaining. We do not believe there was any GM involvement in the alleged violations and have retained a third-party firm to conduct an independent and thorough review," she said in an e-mailed statement.

Democrats in the House and Senate welcomed the news, which was made public hours before Tai testified in front of the Senate Finance Committee.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who co-authored the rapid response concept with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told Tai during the hearing how pleased he was about the first two cases.

She cautioned him that the AFL-CIO case is at "the very, very beginning of the petition process," and that it's not decided yet whether USTR will find evidence of a violation of rights, and therefore ask Mexico to review the situation at the auto parts plant in Matamoros.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., along with Dan Kildee, D-Mich., and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., issued a statement that said, "Mexican workers took advantage of the hotline established in the Implementation Act to report potential violations at this facility to the U.S. government." They said that congressional funding allowed the Department of Labor and USTR to have the resources to bring cases like this one. “Violations of our trade agreements, either by governments or corporations, must be swiftly addressed," they said. They said there were reports that ballots were thrown out, in addition to intimidation and threats directed at the workers.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., who served on the team that pushed for more labor enforcement in the NAFTA rewrite, said, "As a former labor organizer, I deeply appreciate this administration’s leadership and Mexico’s cooperation in enforcing the vigorous oversight and accountability mechanisms my colleagues and I secured in the USMCA. Together, we can protect the rights of workers to organize in Mexico and level the economic playfield for workers throughout North America." Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who also served in that group, also praised USTR's action, as did Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., who voted against USMCA.