Mexico extends deadlines for re-voting in opposition to GM | | Traffic Companies News

Mexican officials on Monday extended the deadline for the agreement to be signed by General Motors Co in Silao, Mexico, to reverse the controversial US-sponsored vote, warning that the entire factory agreement would be terminated if the date was missed.

A factory agreement in the center of Silao must be voted on before August 20, the Ministry of Labor said. The plant affects about 6,000 people.

The first coalition-led vote in April, in which the workers voted to maintain their current union, was ousted amid Mexican officials finding “serious wrongdoing”, including a vote that had been marred.

Anxiety and involvement in the vote prompted the US Trade Representative (USTR) to issue an initial petition to review potential violations under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The trade agreement that replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement was drafted into the right to free speech and collective bargaining, and was strengthened by the change in employment in Mexico in 2019.

The law requires voters to ratify agreements nationwide to ensure that workers do not simply have agreements signed behind companies and organizations.

Many cultural organizations in Mexico are being criticized by civil rights activists for putting business on the working class.

‘Support this process’

Mexico’s labor ministry on May 11 ordered GM to hold a new vote within 30 days.

After the deadline passed, the AFL-CIO US agency said it was “deeply concerned” about the delay, and U.S. lawmakers urged GM to ensure it complies with USMCA requirements.

The GM said in a statement “it will do everything possible to support this process”, in addition to cooperating with the Mexican government and allowing independent observers to monitor the vote. The company also said it was protesting against human rights abuses.

The latter also returned a plea for a co-operation to ensure that there would be no “barriers” to the participation of many stakeholders, the ministry said.

GM workers in Silao are represented by the Miguel Trujillo Lopez coalition, affiliated with the Confederation of Mexico Workers (CTM), one of Mexico’s largest labor unions.

Tereso Medina, co-founder of Miguel Trujillo Lopez, said the request to reschedule the day stemmed from a “crisis of responsibility” to ensure all stakeholders could vote, as General Motors is struggling with a shortage of semiconductor chips that has led some to stop production.

He further added that his agreement will not be finalized on the last day of August 20.

The USTR office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Follow professional standards

However, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai told members of the UAW alliance on a trip to Flint in Michigan, that Biden’s management would work to meet trade standards that raise wages and increase access for workers everywhere.

“At USTR we want to promote high-level competition and high standards as well as the rapid establishment of our trade agreements,” he said. “We do not want to encourage companies to go abroad for profit.”

Tai told co-workers that the US government’s decision to institute a lawsuit against GM sites reflects the determination of Biden’s management to meet all the standards of employment negotiated in accordance with the USMCA trade agreement.

“We know that Mexican security agencies do not represent workers. When workers are denied representation by the unions, it is easier to wage compensation, ”he said.

The lawsuit, the first to be brought under the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism at the USMCA, could bring taxes on GM’s most profitable cars down the market.