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.