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.