GM Workers In Mexico Truck Plant Dump Union

Workers at a General Motors Co. pickup truck plant in central Mexico have voted to scrap their collective contract, opening the door for them to oust one of Mexico's largest labor organizations as their union under a new trade deal, Daina Beth Solomon reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: Workers at the GM plant in Mexico

The vote, with safeguards agreed upon by Mexico and the United States to ensure a fair vote, was the first test of labor rules under an accord that replaced the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The outcome marks a defeat for one of the most powerful unions in Mexico but represents an opening for workers to freely choose independent groups they feel will best fight for their interests.

An initial vote in April was suspended after Mexico's labor ministry found irregularities in the process, prompting the United States to lodge the first complaint under the labor enforcement mechanism of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which took effect last year.

The unionized workers will keep the same terms for pay and benefits as they seek new representation or create a union from scratch. Choosing a new union will require another vote, in which the current union could also vie to take back the contract.

Of 5,876 GM employees who cast ballots in the Tuesday-Wednesday vote at the plant in the city of Silao, 3,214 workers rejected the bargaining agreement while 2,623 workers voted to keep it, the labor ministry said.

Many workers who campaigned for the "no" vote said their current union did not fight hard enough for better salaries at the plant that produces thousands of profitable pickup trucks a year.

The ballot count was led by the plant's Miguel Trujillo Lopez union - part of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM) - alongside observers from the Labor Ministry, Mexico's National Electoral Institute (INE), and the United Nations' International Labor Organization (ILO).

WEEKLY FEATURE : PAL READY TO SOAR WITH PANDEMIC