[CTC] White House calls on Mexican government to probe possible labor violations at GM auto plant

Wed May 12 06:52:09 PDT 2021

Two items below...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/05/12/us-mexico-gm-labor/ <https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/05/12/us-mexico-gm-labor/>

White House calls on Mexican government to probe possible labor violations at GM auto plant
By David J. Lynch 
5/12/21

In the first action of its kind, the Biden administration has formally asked the Mexican government to investigate reports of “serious violations” of worker rights at a General Motors plant in central Mexico, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said.

The move marks the first use of an innovative labor rights provision in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which took effect last year.

It also represents the first time the U.S. government has acted on its own to raise labor concerns under any trade agreement, though Washington has previously done so in response to complaints lodged by unions, said a senior administration official, who insisted on anonymity to brief reporters.

As a senior House trade attorney, Tai helped fashion the “rapid response labor mechanism” in the new North American trade deal as a way to address long-standing Democratic ire over the loss of U.S. factory jobs to low-wage Mexican competition. Promoting Mexican labor rights would ultimately raise wages south of the border, reducing the incentive for employers to move jobs there, Democrats said.

Wednesday’s action showcased the administration’s aim to deliver a “worker-centered trade policy,” according to Tai.

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At issue is whether workers at the GM facility, which exports pickup trucks to the United States, are being denied their right to organize and to bargain collectively. Under a 2019 Mexican labor law, workers must vote to reaffirm or reject existing contracts negotiated by “white” or company-controlled unions.

“Using USMCA to help protect freedom of association and collective-bargaining rights in Mexico helps workers both at home and in Mexico by stopping a race to the bottom,” Tai said.

Voting at the Silao plant began last month. But amid reports that the company-controlled union was tampering with ballots, the Mexican government intervened to halt the vote. The Labor Ministry now will organize a second vote without the union’s direct involvement.

The Biden administration requested a formal Mexican review after receiving a tip on a confidential hotline and monitoring the situation for “a number of months,” one of the U.S. officials said.

Administration officials emphasized that Wednesday’s move was intended to “complement” the Mexican government’s action. Tai praised Mexican officials for suspending the Silao voting when they became aware of “voting irregularities.”

Mexican officials have 10 days to respond to the U.S. request. Assuming they agree to launch the review, as the Biden administration anticipates, they will then have 45 days to conclude it and deliver a verdict to the United States.

If the review finds that workers’ rights have been violated, Mexico and the United States will discuss potential remedies. If the two countries fail to agree on an eventual resolution, the United States can request establishment of an independent panel to decide the matter.

Using her authority under the trade deal, Tai also directed the Treasury Department to suspend the calculation of customs duties on any GM shipments from Silao to the United States. That leaves open the threat that 25 percent duties could be applied retroactively to any GM vehicles that are exported while the review is conducted, U.S. officials said.

The plant opened in 1996 in Silao, which is in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato. The 26.5 million-square-foot facility produces Chevrolet Silverado and Cheyenne and GMC Sierra full-size pickups as well as propulsion systems, according to GM’s website.

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GM said it did not believe it was involved in any of the “alleged violations” and had retained a “third-party firm to conduct an independent and thorough review.” The company said it “condemns” any actions intended to restrict collective bargaining.

The action comes two days after a separate complaint over labor rights at another Mexican plant belonging to Tridonex, an auto parts maker in Matamoros, in northeastern Mexico, near the Texas border. The AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union, an independent Mexican union known as SNITIS and Public Citizen said Mexican workers for two years had been “harassed and fired” for trying to join SNITIS.

Tridonex is a subsidiary of Cardone Industries, which is headquartered in Philadelphia.

The dust-up over Mexican labor practices was not unexpected. Robert E. Lighthizer, who negotiated USMCA during the Trump administration, warned last year that “labor enforcement in Mexico is going to be a problem.”

Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, said in September that the labor federation was drawing up potential complaints.

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https://pascrell.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4751 <https://pascrell.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4751> 

Kildee, Pascrell, Blumenauer, Urge General Motors to Address Labor Rights Violations at Mexico Plant

Reports of Labor Violations Run Afoul of U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement

WASHINGTON—Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05), Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus and member of the Ways and Means Committee, along with Representatives Bill Pascrell (NJ-09), Chairman of the Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee, and Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Chairman of the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, today sent a letter General Motors (GM) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mary Barra, regarding distributing reports of serious labor violations <https://apnews.com/article/latin-america-global-trade-business-canada-c2c06563e94f509bf10a2ca4310a75e3> at a GM plant in Mexico. 

“As the CEO of one of America’s most iconic companies, it is imperative that you are an active participant in respecting labor rights.  GM has a responsibility to speak out against violations of labor and human rights abuses at the Silao GM plant, and has an overarching responsibility to ensure that workers at its facilities throughout Mexico who exercise their rights in the workplace do so free from threats or retaliation,” the letter reads, in part.

Below is the full text of the letter <http://dankildee.house.gov/sites/dankildee.house.gov/files/5-11-21%20-%20Oversight%20Letter%20to%20GM%20on%20Silao%20Labor%20Response.pdf>:

Dear Chair Barra:

As members of the Committee on Ways and Means with jurisdiction over the implementation and enforcement of international trade policies, we write regarding disturbing reports of gross labor rights violations at a General Motors (GM) plant in Silao, Mexico.  The passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) locked in long-overdue changes to Mexico’s labor laws that help to ensure that workers can choose their own independent unions and to support independent bargaining powers.  The USMCA also provides new labor enforcement tools to ensure the agreement is effective.  Taken together, this sent a clear message: it is a new day for workers.

Every corner of our society must be an active participant in supporting and encouraging workers’ fundamental right to organize.  Workers have a right to freely associate and choose an independent union.  More workers in Mexico are attempting to exercise those rights and break down the corrupt system of so-called “protection unions” that have held workers back for decades.  It appears that workers at GM’s plant in Silao were doing just that, but members of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), one of the preeminent employer “protection unions,” reportedly committed the following acts:

Limited voting to only 15 hours for more than 6,000 workers;
Withheld the contract from workers and failed to provide copies or make it publicly available online;
Destroyed unfavorable ballots and replaced them with favorable ballots;
Refused to turn over ballots to Mexican labor authorities upon request; and
Threatened individuals’ employment status to bully workers into voting in their favor.

Press reports also indicated that GM officials and unidentified security guards removed independent inspectors from the premises as they were attempting to monitor the vote.

The Mexican Government considered these reported acts so egregious that the Mexican Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare recommended criminal charges for members of CTM.  These reported acts also appear to violate the USMCA, and we expect the U.S. government to aggressively investigate and use all available remedies under the USMCA to effectively address violations and demonstrate publicly that labor rights will be protected.

We understand that the Mexican government has a significant role to play in upholding workers’ legal right to unionize, but companies like yours do as well.  As one of America’s most iconic companies, GM should be an active participant in respecting labor rights.  GM has a responsibility to speak out against violations of labor and human rights abuses at the Silao GM plant, and has an overarching responsibility to ensure that workers at its facilities throughout Mexico who exercise their rights in the workplace do so free from threats or retaliation.  We  request that GM remain neutral in any future democratic efforts by workers at its facilities and ensure that workers who organized to replace CTM are not harassed or retaliated against in any way.

In addition, we request written answers to the following questions by May 25, 2021:

1.     Before the vote to retain CTM, did any GM employee or subcontractor coordinate or correspond with any individual affiliated with CTM on the election?  If so, please characterize those interactions.

2.     Before the vote to retain CTM, did any GM employee or subcontractor pressure any worker to vote in favor of CTM?

3.     Before the vote to retain CTM, did any GM employee or subcontractor remove or deny entry to independent observers from the facility, preventing them from ensuring the integrity of the election?

4.     When did GM become aware that CTM had destroyed lawfully cast ballots?

5.     Has GM investigated whether any GM employee or subcontractor violated Mexican labor law?  If so, please explain the findings.  If not, please explain why no investigation has been conducted.

6.     Will GM commit to immediately providing every worker with a physical copy of the contract, publicly posting online a copy of the contract, and ensuring that any future union organization vote will satisfy the following requirements:

a.      Having a government labor official monitor and verify a vote;

b.     Having an independent third party oversee and certify a future vote on the protection union contract;

c.      Affirming that workers can request the assistance of the labor authorities to intervene in a contract legitimation vote if workers feel unsure of the purpose, unsafe, intimidated, or otherwise have doubts or fears about the process;

d.     Providing sufficient time for every worker to cast a vote; and

e.      Ensuring all workers have received a physical copy of the contract at least two weeks prior to a vote?

Thank you, in advance, for your prompt attention to this matter. 

Sincerely,

Dan Kildee

Bill Pascrell 

Earl Blumenauer

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826

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