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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202)219-6373 X 164
As a result of ministerial consultations under the labor
side agreement to NAFTA, Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman and her Mexican
counterpart have agreed to take an in-depth look at international treaties and
their countries' labor laws. The countries will hold a conference to study the
relationship among international treaties, constitutional provisions and
national labor laws.
"We are pleased that the Mexican government has agreed to
these consultations. We must and will continue to work with our counterparts to
assure that basic labor rights, such as freedom of association, are a primary
focus under the NAFTA labor agreement. Moreover, this outcome is another
indication that the NAFTA labor agreement is achieving its objectives," said
Acting Deputy Under Secretary for International Affairs Andrew J. Samet.
The ministerial consultations agreement calls for a public
conference to discuss international treaties and constitutional systems and
their effect on the right of freedom of association as contained in the
national labor laws of the three countries. This public forum is scheduled to
be held December 4 at the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore.
Under the consultations, the United States, Mexican and Canadian National
Administrative Offices (NAOs) will also exchange additional information on the
labor laws under consideration at the public conference. Each country's NAO
will publish the results of the conference.
The ministerial consultations grew out of allegations
submitted to the U.S. NAO. Each of the three NAFTA countries set up its own NAO
to administer the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC), known
as the NAFTA labor side agreement. One of the responsibilities of the NAO is to
review labor law matters in the other signatory countries. This particular
review was prompted by a submission filed by Human Rights Watch/Americas, the
International Labor Rights Fund and the National Association of Democratic
Lawyers of Mexico.
The submitters in this case claimed that certain Mexican
federal workers were denied freedom of association when a government
reorganization created the Ministry of the Environment, Natural Resources and
Fishing. Upon review of the submission, the NAO found that important issues
were raised concerning the relationship of freedom of association provisions in
the Mexican constitution and its domestic laws and international treaties
ratified by Mexico.
In its report on the review, the NAO supported its findings
with decisions of the Mexican Supreme Court and reports by the International
Labor Organization. The NAO recommended that the consultations be directed at
clarifying the effects of international treaties, such as International Labor
Organization (ILO) Convention 87, Mexican constitutional provisions, and
national labor laws, on the right of workers in Mexico to freely organize
unions.
Although not a party involved in the original submission,
Canada agreed to participate in the consultations in order to broaden knowledge
of the issue and to advance the spirit of trinational cooperation.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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