Mexico: Saint Gobain independent union wins representation vote despite USA refusal to apply the USMCA Rapid Response Labor Mechanism
"Successful Labor Complaint Remediation in Mexico without U.S. Intervention", 21 November 2022
...An independent union has won the representation vote at a Saint Gobain facility in Cuautla, continuing the expansion of independent unions across Mexico.
A cohort of labor associations, the AFL-CIO, the United Steelworkers, and Sindicato Independiente de las y los Trabajadores Libres y Democráticos de Saint Gobain México, filed a labor complaint petition with the U.S. Department of Labor in late September 2022. The petition alleged that multiple labor rights were denied at Saint Gobain – an automotive glass manufacturer. Specifically, the unions claimed that the facility allowed the current union, the Confederation of Workers and Campesinos, to intimidate and threaten workers ahead of a new representation vote.
The U.S. declined to leverage the USMCA Rapid Response Labor Mechanism in this case. Despite formal intervention, the facility held a vote for union representation, and the Mexican union petitioners won the vote. Now, negotiations related to the new collective bargaining agreement will begin, and the AFL-CIO, the Mexican government, and the U.S. government will continue to monitor progress at Saint Gobain to ensure future votes are free from intimidation, coercion, and retaliation...
Mexico’s new labor law will fully enter into effect next spring. Any collective bargaining or protection agreements that are not ratified by May 2023 will be void. The dissolution of thousands of incumbent protection agreements makes Mexico’s manufacturing sector ripe for workers to organize and elect independent unions...