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

This submission was filed on October 30, 1997 by the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers (SCMW), the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF), the National Association of Democratic Lawyers (ANAD) of Mexico, and the Union of Metal, Steel, Iron, and Allied Workers (Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Industria Metálica, Acero, Hierro, Conexos y Similares - STIHMACS) of Mexico. An amendment detailing safety and health issues was submitted on February 9, 1998. The amendment was filed by the Maquiladora Health and Safety Support Network, Worksafe of Southern California, the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), the United Auto Workers (UAW), and the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW).

Submission 9702 raised primarily freedom of association issues involving workers at the Han Young export processing (maquiladora) plant in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The submitters alleged that workers at the plant who attempted to organize a union were intimidated and threatened by the company and some of the workers were fired. Han Young has since transferred its operations to another location.

The NAO accepted the submission for review on November 17, 1997. A public hearing was held in San Diego, California, on February 18, 1998. The U.S. NAO issued a public report on April 28, 1998 recommending ministerial level consultations to discuss strategies being considered by the Government of Mexico to ensure that workers' freedom of association and right to bargain collectively are protected.

Submission 9702 also raised issues of the health and safety of the workers employed at the Han Young plant. These issues were addressed in a separate report issued on August 6, 1998. In this report, the NAO recommended ministerial level consultations on the safety and health issues raised.

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 on May 18, 2000. Under this 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.

As part of the ministerial agreement, the Mexican Department of Labor and Social Welfare will continue promoting the registry of collective bargaining contracts in conformity with established labor legislation. 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

These submissions were filed on February 14, 1994, by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) and the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) respectively. The submissions concerned the operations of subsidiaries of the Honeywell Corporation and the General Electric Corporation in Mexico. Both submissions alleged that workers had been deprived of their freedom of association insofar as they had not been permitted to organize into the unions of their choice. Both cases were accepted for review by the NAO on April 15, 1994.

Information was collected and a joint hearing was conducted by the NAO on the two submissions on September 12, 1994. In its Public Report issued on October 12, 1994, the NAO concluded that the information was insufficient to establish that the Government of Mexico failed to enforce its labor laws. Accordingly, the NAO did not recommend ministerial consultations. Nevertheless, acknowledging the strong concerns raised in the allegations with regard to the freedom of association and the right to organize of workers, the NAO recommended that the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, develop joint cooperative programs to address these issues.

• Report of Review
• Original Submission (Honeywell)
• Original Submission (GE)

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a public report in response to a submission filed under the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC) by the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 770, the Frente Auténtico del Trabajo, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, and the Project on Organizing, Development, Education, and Research, with research assistance from Change to Win.  The report determines that there is insufficient evidence, at this time, to support specific conclusions related to the Mexican government’s application of labor laws at Chedraui retail stores, in light of information in the submission and additional information obtained during the review. Nonetheless, the report discusses in detail the Department of Labor’s longstanding, serious concerns regarding issues raised in the submission, in particular so-called “protection contracts” and the primary factors that facilitate them, such as structural bias in the Conciliation and Arbitration Boards that administer labor justice in Mexico.

• Report of Review
• Press release: English | Spanish
• Original Submission

This submission was filed on November 9, 2006 by the United Steelworkers (USW). The USW alleged that the Government of Mexico (GOM) failed to fulfill its obligations under the NAALC with respect to mineworkers and their union at the Pasta de Conchos mine in the Mexican State of Coahuila. The submitters' alleged that workers were denied freedom of association rights and proper access to appropriate labor tribunals, focusing on the Government of Mexico's actions with regard to the National Union of Miners and Metalworkers and its leadership. With regards to occupational safety and health, the USW claimed that the STPS has "repeatedly failed to fulfill its obligation to enforce labor regulations requiring employers to provide workers with satisfactory working conditions that are free of health and safety hazards." In particular, the USW cited inadequate inspection and enforcement actions at the Pasta de Conchos mine, where an explosion killed 65 miners on February 19, 2006. After consideration of the submission, the Office of Trade and Labor Affairs determined that a review would not further the objectives of the NAALC and, on August 31, 2007, declined to accept it for review.

• Original Submission

This submission was filed on October 14 by The Progressive Union of Workers of the Textile Industry, the Manufacturing, Cutting and Confection of Fabric and Garments in General and Related and Similar Industries in the Mexican Republic, a member of the "Vanguardia Obrera" Workers Federation of the Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants (FTVO-CROC), with the support of the U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project, and the Washington Office on Latin America under the NAALC concerning the enforcement of labor laws by the Government of Mexico. The submission focuses on events at a textile plant operated by Rubie's de Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V., in the municipality of Tepeji del Rio, State of Hidalgo, Mexico.

The submitters allege that the Government of Mexico has failed to fulfill its obligations under the NAALC to effectively enforce its labor law under Article 3 in connection with freedom of association and protection of the right to organize, the right to bargain collectively, the right to strike, prohibition of forced labor, labor protections for children and young persons, minimum employment standards, elimination of employment discrimination, prevention of occupational injuries and illnesses, and compensation in cases of occupational injuries and illnesses, and under Article 5 with respect to fair, equitable and transparent labor tribunal proceedings.

The submission focuses on the submitter's attempts to organize a union at a plant operated by Rubie's de Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V., in the municipality of Tepeji del Rio, State of Hidalgo, alleging that Mexico's Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board No. 6 and Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board No. 51 failed to provide workers with fair, equitable and transparent proceedings to enforce their right to form a union to represent the workers in collective bargaining. Allegations also include failure on the part of state and federal authorities to provide effective onsite inspections and remedies for labor law violations concerning forced labor, minimum wage, overtime pay, prevention of discrimination, occupational safety and health, and child labor. Finally, the submitters assert that the actions and/or inaction by the Government of Mexico represent a pattern of non-enforcement of its labor laws. The submission was accepted for review on January 6, 2006. The Office of Trade and Labor Affairs issued a Public Report of Review on August 31, 2007.

• Report of Review
• Original Submission

This submission was filed on May 27, 2005, by the Airline Pilot's Association of Mexico. The submission deals with allegations of sustained and recurring actions of non-enforcement of labor law by the Mexican government over a five-year period. The submission alleges that the government of Mexico has failed to enforce its laws with regard to freedom of association and protection of the right to organize, and the right to bargain collectively. The submitter alleges that the government of Mexico is in violation of the Mexican Constitution, International Labor Organization Conventions ratified by Mexico, and the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation.

Based on a thorough examination of the issues in this case, the U.S. NAO determined that the information provided by the submitters did not substantiate the allegations concerning the failure by the Mexican government to enforce its laws regarding the establishment of a craft union, especially in light of the Mexican Supreme Court's decision on November 25, 2005, which let stand a lower-court's ruling that ASPA was not entitled to establish a pilots-only union. As to the improper dismissal of workers, the submitters had substantially resolved their outstanding claims. Therefore, in accordance with its Procedural Guidelines, on July 7, 2006 the U.S. NAO's determined that a review of the submission would not further the objectives of the NAALC, and accordingly, declined the submission.

• Original Submission

This submission was filed on November 10, 1999 by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) and the Association of Flight Attendants of Mexico (ASSA).

The submission raises concerns about freedom of association, minimum employment standards, and occupational safety and health at the privately owned Mexican airline company, Executive Air Transport, Inc. (TAESA). Specifically, the submitters allege that the union election process at TAESA inhibited flight attendants' right to organize and bargain collectively and in the end, led to the dismissal of those workers who voted for ASSA. The submitters also allege that the Mexican government failed to enforce compliance of minimum labor standards, including payment of overtime and mandatory contributions for social security, pensions, and housing. In terms of occupational safety and health, the submitters allege that TAESA provided inadequate safety training, unsafe flight conditions, and forced flight attendants to work more than the maximum number of permitted hours in flight.

On January 7, 2000, the NAO accepted the submission for review. A public hearing was held in Washington, D.C. on March 23, 2000. The NAO issued its public report on this submission on July 7, 2000, recommending ministerial consultations. The U.S. Secretary of Labor formally requested ministerial consultations on July 17, 2000. The Mexican Secretary of Labor formally accepted the request for ministerial consultations on July 24, 2001.

Consistent with the Ministerial Consultations Joint Declaration signed June 11, 2002 by Secretaries Chao and Abascal, the U.S. and Mexico will undertake a series of efforts to address the issues raises in U.S. Submission 9901. This will include a public seminar to be held in Mexico regarding the different types of unions in each country (e.g. craft or guild unions, company-wide unions, sector or industry unions) and their relevant rights related to freedom of association and collective bargaining, in a public seminar.

• Report of Review
• Original Submission

This submission was filed on December 2, 1998 with the U.S. NAO by the Organization of Rural Route Mail Couriers, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, National Association of Letter Carriers, and several other labor organizations in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

The submission raised concerns about the Canada Post Corporation Act, which includes a provision that denies rural route mail couriers the right to bargain collectively. The submitters alleged that rural route mail couriers do not have adequate protection for occupational injuries and illnesses and protection against employment discrimination.

In accordance with procedural guidelines, on February 1, 1999 the NAO declined to accept the submission for review.

• Original Submission

This submission was filed on October 19, 1998 by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Teamsters Canada, the Quebec Federation of Labor, Teamsters Local 973 (Montreal), and the International Labor Rights Fund.

Submission 9803 raised issues of anti-union motivated plant closing; delays in the union certification procedure; and problems related to the certification process in cases involving multiple employers or multiple business locations based on the franchise system of corporate ownership. The issues arose from efforts to organize employees of a McDonald's restaurant in the city of St.-Hubert, Quebec, Canada.

The NAO accepted the submission for review on December 18, 1998. Pursuant to the request of the submitters, the NAO ended its review on April 21, 1999 after consultations with the Canadian NAO and the government of Quebec. The submitting labor organizations reached an agreement with the government of Quebec to have the issues of sudden and anti-union motivated plant closings raised in the submission studied by a provincial council.

• Original Submission

This submission was filed by the Florida Tomato Exchange on September 28, 1998, and raised the issue of the use of child labor in the production of fruit and vegetables in Mexico. In accordance with its procedural guidelines, the NAO held this submission in abeyance for a year for the submitters to provide further information. No additional information was provided and the case was closed as of October 4, 1999.