“Complaint Accuses Mexican Factories of Labor Abuses, Testing New Trade Pact”, 10 May 2021

...The A.F.L.-C.I.O. and other groups filed a complaint with the Biden administration on Monday over claims of labor violations at a group of auto parts factories in Mexico...The complaint focuses on the Tridonex auto parts factories in the city of Matamoros, just across the border from Brownsville, Texas...The trade deal, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement...had significant input from congressional Democrats, who...insisted on tougher labor and environmental standards in order to vote in favor of the pact, which needed approval from Congress...The complaint is being brought under a novel “rapid response” mechanism in the trade deal that allows for complaints about labor violations to be brought against an individual factory and for penalties to be applied to that factory. The complaint was filed by the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the Service Employees International Union, SNITIS and Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch...Tridonex is a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Cardone Industries, which is controlled by Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management...The complaint includes several accusations of labor violations, including that workers have not been able to elect their union leaders or ratify their collective bargaining agreement, and that more than 600 workers were fired by Tridonex in acts of retaliation. It also accuses the State of Tamaulipas of denying the right of workers to choose the union that represents them...Cardone said it was “committed to leading labor practices, fostering constructive relationships with employees and respecting the universal principle of freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining”...“We do not believe that the allegations in the complaint are accurate and welcome a full inquiry so that the facts can be disclosed,” the statement said...Democrats in Congress welcomed the complaint…