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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-6373 ext. 4
The labor groups which submitted a NAFTA-related complaint against
Canada have asked the Labor Department's National Administrative Office to end
its review of the case and to close the file. The complaint, submitted under
the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation, alleged violations of
Canadian labor law on freedom of association and union organizing involving a
McDonald's franchise in St.-Hubert, Quebec.
The labor groups informed the U.S. National Administrative Office that
they reached an agreement with the Government of Quebec and were no longer
requesting the NAO's consideration of the complaint. Instead, the issues raised
in the submission concerning sudden and anti-union motivated plant closings
will be studied by a Quebec provincial government council. This agreement was
reached after review by the U.S. NAO and consultations with the Canadian NAO
and Quebec government. Accordingly, the U.S. NAO has formally ended its review.
"We are pleased that the labor groups involved and the government of
Quebec have agreed on a plan to address this freedom of association issue,"
Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman said. "Freedom of association is one of the
labor principles the U.S., Canada and Mexico endorsed in the North American
Agreement on Labor Cooperation, the labor side agreement to NAFTA. We believe
that our discussions with the Quebec government and the labor groups were
useful in clarifying the issues. This is further indication that the process
under the NAFTA labor side agreement works."
The original submission was filed by the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, Teamsters Canada, the Quebec Federation of Labor, Teamsters Local
973, and the International Labor Rights Fund. It was accepted for review by the
U.S. NAO on Dec. 18, 1998 and was under consideration. The U.S. NAO met with
representatives of the Canadian NAO, the Quebec government, the submitting
organizations, and employers to discuss the case and relevant labor law and
practices in early April.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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