Mexican Union Election Do-Over Proof That USMCA Works, Democrats Say
Less than two weeks after the U.S. and Mexico announced a resolution to a Rapid Response Mechanism complaint over labor violations at a General Motors plant in Mexico (see 2107090019), the second vote at the plant in Silao resulted in a rejection of the protection union. The complaint was brought because that same protection union did ballot-stuffing and intimidated workers during the first vote, advocates said.
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U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai reacted to the new vote on Aug. 19 by saying, "“The vote results announced today are another important demonstration of the role of the USMCA’s rapid response mechanism in getting prompt and meaningful results for workers. We congratulate the Mexican government, in particular the Labor Ministry (STPS), for overseeing this vote."
The House Ways and Means Committee chair and Trade Subcommittee chair, along with two committee members, also hailed the results of the election do-over. "This week’s vote demonstrates that the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) labor provisions and the Rapid Response Mechanism that Democrats secured in 2020 can help pave the way to protect workers’ rights, remedy labor violations, foster workplace democracy in Mexico, and allow American workers to compete on a level playing field," said Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., and Rep. Dan Kildee, a Democrat who represents Flint, Mich., where GM has a major plant.