"Mexico orders re-do of Goodyear worker vote after union meddling"

Mexico's labor ministry on Monday called for a re-do of a key workers' vote at tiremaker Goodyear (GT.O) in central Mexico after members of the plant's union were accused of stealing ballots.

The vote in San Luis Potosi state was meant to ask 1,300 unionized workers to keep or reject their collective contract, part of a historic effort by Mexico's government to wipe out sweetheart deals between companies and unions that keep wages low.

Labor officials said they stopped the union-led vote halfway after detecting irregularities apparently committed by the Miguel Trujillo Lopez union, which is part of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), one Mexico's biggest labor organizations...

Goodyear said it detected potential irregularities during the voting and supported suspending the process. It added that it was working to ensure free association and collective bargaining for workers...

The incident comes several days after independent union La Liga asked U.S. authorities to open a complaint at the plant under the 2020 States Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which aims to improve workplace conditions in Mexico.

La Liga alleged CTM and Goodyear did not inform workers about their contract until recently, and had agreed less pay and fewer benefits than available by law to workers in the rubber sector.

CTM in 2021 faced similar accusations that it destroyed ballots during a contract vote at General Motors in Silao, Guanajuato, a dispute that lead to the first of several USMCA labor cases in Mexico.