The USTR and the United States Department of Labor reported on Wednesday that they concluded a labor rights case related to General Motors under the Agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada (USMCA).

First of all, the case arose from a request for review under the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) that the United States sent to Mexico on May 12, 2021, in response to concerns arising from events that occurred before, during and around the vote to legitimize the collective bargaining agreement for the workers of said facilities, last April.

Initially, the Trade Representation (USTR) and the United States Department of Labor received information “several months ago”, through a confidential hotline established to enforce the T-MEC, from a person who said that a plant of General Motors in Silao, Guanajuato, was violating that commercial agreement.

The United States trade representative, Katherine Tai, and the Secretary of Labor, Marty Walsh, marked this Wednesday the «successful conclusion» of the first remediation course under the RRM.

«Workers at a General Motors plant in Silao, Mexico, voted to approve their existing collective bargaining agreement under free and democratic conditions after the United States requested a review on May 12, 2021,» USTR said in a statement.

General Motors

In line with commitments in the course of remediation, a new legitimation vote occurred at the facility on August 17 and 18, 2021, during which workers voted to reject their existing collective bargaining agreement.

Federal inspectors from the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) supervised the vote, while representatives from the International Labor Organization and the National Electoral Institute of Mexico acted as observers of the vote. The STPS has confirmed the results of the vote.

«The successful completion of this first remediation course under the T-MEC rapid response mechanism shows that the Biden-Harris Administration can deliver real and timely results to workers,» said Tai.

A Tai letter ordering the Secretary of the Treasury to resume liquidation of the merchandise receipts from GM’s facilities in Silao.