"Avocado farm workers in Michoacán file USMCA labor complaint", January 19 2024

Avocado workers at a plant in Uruapan, Michoacán have taken their grievances to the United States government.

Claiming that RV Fresh Foods has violated their labor rights, a group representing local workers filed a petition this week under the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism — a tenet of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the free trade pact that superseded NAFTA in 2020.

The National Central Confederation (Cocena), a labor group representing approximately 400 workers, has accused Uruapan-based RV Fresh Foods of obstructing collective bargaining and freedom of association under Mexican law. 

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Seeking resolution via the USMCA is a groundbreaking move for the avocado sector, but not unprecedented amongst Mexican workers....

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The main allegations include making threats against unionization efforts and not allowing free association.

“We have had a lot of resistance from APEAM to unionize, because they control the cutting of avocados and they do not want to provide social security to [the] 63,000 workers who are involved in cutting, packaging, transporting and processing,” Cocena chief Víctor Mendoza Pantoja Mendoza said ....

The union chief also presented evidence of “bad practices” in RV Fresh Foods’ payroll department, including alleged tax evasion. He also said that Michoacán avocado workers are unjustly controlled by APEAM, a self-labeled “nonprofit civil association” that has 84 affiliated packing plants.

He said he hopes the evidence, and the desire to comply with standards recognized by the United Nations’ International Labor Organization, will prompt action from the Mexican Economy and Labor ministries.

He also pointed out that other avocado companies are facing similar allegations, naming WestPak, Del Monte and Global Frut. Thus, he said, the complaint serves as a pivotal moment in addressing broader labor issues within the avocado sector.

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