Submissions under the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC)

This submission was filed on August 17, 1998, by the Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO. The submission raised issues of freedom of association related to a strike by flight attendants employed by Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V. (Aeroméxico) on May 31-June 1, 1998. The submitter argued that the Government of Mexico took over operations of that company when the union began a legal strike, therefore compelling the workers to return to work or face possible replacement.

In accordance with its procedural guidelines, the NAO declined to accept the submission for review on October 19, 1998, however it agreed to undertake a research project to evaluate how the three NAALC countries reconcile the issue of the right to strike with national interests of safety, security, and general welfare.

• ILAB Decision Letter
• Original Submission

This submission was filed on December 15, 1997, by the Echlin Workers Alliance, a group of unions from the United States and Canada, which includes the Teamsters; the United Auto workers; the Canadian Auto Workers; UNITE; the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America; the Paperworkers; and the Steelworkers. Twenty-four additional organizations, including non-governmental organizations, human rights groups and labor unions from the three NAFTA countries, are cited as concerned organizations in the submission. Subsequently, the AFL-CIO, the CLC (of Canada), and the UNT (of Mexico) joined the submission.

The submission alleged violation of freedom of association at the Itapsa export processing plant in Ciudad de los Reyes, in the State of Mexico. The submitters alleged that when workers at the facility attempted to organize an independent union, they faced intimidation and harassment from the company and the existing union, the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), including threats of physical violence and job loss. The submitters alleged that Mexican government authorities are aware of the situation and have taken no remedial action.

In terms of occupational safety and health, the submission alleged that workers were exposed to asbestos and other toxic substances without adequate personal protective equipment (PPE).

The NAO accepted this submission for review on January 30, 1998. A public hearing was held in Washington, D.C. on March 23, 1998. The NAO issued its public report on this submission on July 31, 1998, recommending ministerial level consultations on the freedom of association and the safety and health issues raised.

On May 18, 2000, the U.S. Secretary of Labor and the Mexican Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare signed a ministerial agreement for U.S. NAO Submission Nos. 9702 and 9703. As part of the agreement, Mexico will make efforts to promote that workers be provided information pertaining to collective bargaining agreements existing in their place of employment and to promote the use of eligible voter lists and secret ballot elections in disputes over the right to hold the collective bargaining contract.

Under the ministerial agreement, the Government of Mexico held a public seminar on June 23, 2000, in Tijuana on the principles of freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively. Mexico also has agreed to conduct a trilateral seminar to discuss law and practice governing Mexican labor boards, including the rules and procedures to assure their impartiality. In addition, U.S. and Mexican experts will participate in a government-to-government meeting concerning the occupational safety and health issues raised in the two submissions.

• Report of Review
• Original Submission
• Ministerial Agreement

This submission was filed on May 16, 1997, by Human Rights Watch, the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF), and the National Association of Democratic Lawyers (ANAD) of Mexico. The submission raised issues of gender-based discrimination in Mexico's export processing (maquiladora) industry. The submission contained allegations that the companies, many of which are subsidiaries of U.S. companies, regularly require female job applicants to verify their pregnancy status as a condition of employment and deny employment to pregnant women. Additionally, the submission included allegations that some maquiladora employers mistreat and/or discharge pregnant employees in order to avoid payment of maternity benefits. The U.S. NAO accepted the submission for review on July 14, 1997 and a public hearing was conducted in Brownsville, Texas, on November 19, 1997.

The NAO issued its Public Report of Review on the submission on January 12, 1998, recommending ministerial level consultations for the purpose of ascertaining the extent of the protections against pregnancy-based gender discrimination afforded by Mexico's laws and their effective enforcement by the appropriate authorities.

A Ministerial Consultations Implementation Agreement was signed on October 21, 1998, and the three parties agreed to meet and confer on the issues raised in submission 9701 as well as coordinate a conference. As part of the agreement, Mexico and the United States also agreed to conduct outreach sessions to educate workers close to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Pursuant to the Ministerial Consultations Implementation Agreement, on March 1-2, 1999, the Protecting the Labor Rights of Working Women conference was held in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico. This conference served as a forum to discuss the laws and programs that protect the employment rights of women in Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Representatives from the Mexican Department of Labor stated that federal labor law in Mexico prohibits employers from denying workers employment for reasons of age or sex. Mexican officials announced that employment discrimination, both pre- and post-hire, on the basis of gender and pregnancy is illegal under Mexican law.

As follow-up to this conference, on August 17-18, 1999, the United States and Mexico held individual outreach sessions in McAllen, Texas and Reynosa, Tamaulipas to educate women workers about their rights in the workplace. These events along the U.S. - Mexico border provided women workers and employers the opportunity to learn about workers' legal protections and employer obligations in the workplace. Mexico held a second outreach session in Puebla, Mexico on May 30, 2000.

• Report of Review
• Original Submission
• Ministerial Agreement

This submission was filed with the U.S. NAO by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the Union of Telephone Workers of Mexico (STRM), and the Federation of Goods and Services Companies (FESEBS) of Mexico on October 11, 1996. This submission raised issues of freedom of association for workers attempting to organize a union at a facility owned by Maxi-Switch, S.A. de C.V., in Cananea, Sonora, Mexico. The company produces and markets high-tech keyboards for computers and computer games and is owned by Silitek Corporation of Taiwan.

The NAO accepted this submission for review on December 10, 1996. A hearing was scheduled to be held in Tucson, Arizona, on April 18, 1997. On April 16 the submitters informed the NAO that the issues raised in the submission had come to a favorable resolution and that they were withdrawing the submission.

• Original Submission

This submission was filed with the U.S. NAO on June 13, 1996. It was submitted by three labor rights - human rights groups: the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF), Human Rights Watch/Americas (HRW), and the Mexican National Association of Democratic Lawyers (ANAD). The submission raised issues of freedom of association for federal workers and questioned the impartiality of the labor tribunals reviewing these issues.

U.S. NAO Submission 9601 was accepted for review on July 29. A hearing was conducted on December 3, 1996, at the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. A report, recommending ministerial consultations on the status of international treaties and constitutional provisions protecting freedom of association, was issued on January 27, 1997. Pursuant to the consultations, the Departments of Labor of Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. agreed to exchange sufficient publicly available information to permit a full examination of the issues raised in the submission. This included a seminar, open to the public, which was held in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 4, 1997.

On December 3, 1997, the submitters filed a request for reconsideration on the ground that some of the issues raised in the original submission were not adequately addressed by the NAO in its report. The NAO declined this request on the ground that the issues raised had been adequately reviewed.

• Report of Review
• Original Submission

This submission was filed by the United Electrical, Radio, and machine Workers (UE) against a subsidiary of the General Electric Corporation in Mexico. The UE withdrew the submission on January 25, 1995, prior to the completion of the review process.

• Original Submission

On November 14, 2011, OTLA received a submission from the Mexican Union of Electrical Workers (Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas, SME) and over 90 other organizations (including the AFL-CIO, the ITUC, and many grassroots organizations) under the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC). The submission alleges that the Government of Mexico (GOM) has failed to uphold its commitments under Articles 2 through 6 of the NAALC stemming from the GOM's actions or failure to take action following the issuance of a Presidential decree on October 10, 2009, dissolving the state-owned electrical power company, Central Light and Power, and terminating the employment of over 44,000 SME members. On January 13, 2012, OTLA accepted the submission for review and issued a Federal Register notice on its decision. OTLA is now in the process of conducting its review of the submission to determine its findings on the allegations in the submission, which it will present in a public report to the Secretary of Labor. On June 25, 2012, OTLA determined that an extension of time for its review was warranted, and notified the public in a Federal Register notice that published on July 2, 2012.

• Notice of Extension of Review Period
• Original Submission
• Report of Review

This submission was filed on February 17, 2005, by the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and 22 labor unions from Mexico, Canada and the United States. The submission deals with a labor law reform proposal presented to the Mexican Chamber of Deputies on December 12, 2002. The submission alleges that the labor law reform proposal would substantially weaken existing labor protections, thereby codifying systemic violations of the right of free association, the right to organize and bargain collectively, the right to strike, and core labor rights protected by the Mexican Constitution, International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions ratified by Mexico, and the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC). After consideration of the submission, ILAB determined that a review would not further the objectives of the NAALC and, on February 21, 2006, declined to accept it for review.

• Original Submission

This submission was filed on July 12, 2004 by UNITE-HERE and Centro de Apoyo a los Trabajadores de Yucatán. The submission alleged workers' rights violations concerning minimum employment standards and safety and health standards. The submission concerns two companies, operating one plant each, in the apparel industry in the city of Merida, Yucatán. The submission was withdrawn by the submitters on August 26, 2004 without prejudice in order to gather and provide further information.