U.S. ASKS MEXICO TO PROBE LABOR VIOLATIONS AT GM PLANT

The Biden administration announced that is asking Mexico to review whether labor violations have occurred at a General Motors (GM) plant in the country, a significant step using a new labor enforcement tool in the revised North American trade deal.

The administration is seeking the review under the novel “rapid response” mechanism in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and took effect last summer.

Under the mechanism, penalties can be brought against a specific factory for violating workers’ rights of free association and collective bargaining, Thomas Kaplan reported for the New York Times.

The administration “received information appearing to indicate serious violations” of workers’ rights at the G.M. facility, in Silao in the central state of Guanajuato, in connection with a recent vote on their collective-bargaining agreement, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said.

The vote was stopped last month amid accusations that the union at the plant had tampered with it, according to news reports. Mexico’s Labor Ministry said on Tuesday that it had found “serious irregularities” in the vote and ordered that it be held again within 30 days.

In a statement, Katherine Tai, the U.S. trade representative, said the announcement on Wednesday “shows the Biden-Harris administration’s serious commitment to workers and a worker-centered trade policy.”

She added: “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. It also supports Mexico’s efforts to implement its recent labor law reforms.”

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