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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-6373
The U.S. National Administrative Office (NAO) will review a
complaint against Canada filed under the North American Agreement on Labor
Cooperation (NAALC), the labor side agreement to NAFTA. This is the first
submission involving Canada submitted to the U.S. NAO.
The complaint centers around worker efforts to organize a
McDonald's restaurant in St.-Hubert, Quebec. Allegedly the restaurant owner,
who owns four other franchise facilities in the area, closed the St.-Hubert
facility when workers tried to set up a union at the restaurant. Specifically,
the submission raises NAALC-related issues of anti-union plant closing; delays
in the union certification process; and problems related to the certification
process in cases involving multiple employers or multiple business locations
under the franchise system of corporate ownership.
Irasema Garza, Secretary of the U.S. NAO, announced the
decision to review the submission. She said, "Freedom of association is one of
the 11 principles agreed to in the NAALC. We want to look at and understand the
Canadian labor law system within the context of those labor principles the
U.S., Canada and Mexico endorsed in the NAFTA labor side agreement."
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Teamsters
Canada, the Quebec Federation of Labor, Teamsters Local 973 (Montreal) and the
International Labor Rights Fund jointly submitted this latest complaint to the
U.S. NAO. Under its procedural guidelines, the NAO has 120 days to review the
allegations and to report its findings to the Secretary of Labor.
To date, 20 submissions have been filed for review under
the NAALC. Thirteen have been filed with the U.S. NAO: 11 involving Mexico and
two involving Canada. Five have been submitted to the Mexican NAO and all five
involve allegations against the U.S. The remaining two have been filed with the
Canadian NAO: one each against the U.S and Mexico.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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