The US and Mexico have reached an agreement to address a US labor complaint at VU Manufacturing, an auto parts plant in northern Mexico, as reported by Reuters on March 31. The deal requires the company to allow workers to freely choose their union, as per the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which seeks to improve labor rights. The Mexican government had earlier found “serious irregularities” at the factory, which violated USMCA. Mexico has now agreed to initiate sanctions proceedings against VU Manufacturing and take appropriate action against human resource personnel who violated workers’ rights. Workers at the plant had formed a new union, La Liga, and alleged that VU Manufacturing management had obstructed their efforts to establish the first collective contract, which would include a salary increase, and harassed union supporters. 

The US has filed several labor complaints in Mexico under USMCA, including against General Motors , Stellantis, and Panasonic . Earlier this year, a group of civil society organizations has filed several petitions under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) calling for investigations into labor rights violations in Mexico. The petitions allege that Mexico has failed to enforce its labor laws in the poultry and auto parts industries, resulting in low wages and poor working conditions for workers. 

Sources: 

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/us-mexico-agree-worker-rights-plan-mexican-auto-parts-factory-2023-03-31/

https://www.business-humanrights.org/pt/%C3%BAltimas-not%C3%ADcias/mexico-labour-rights-petitions-submitted-under-the-united-states-mexico-canada-agreement-usmca/

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-asks-mexico-review-labor-rights-abuse-allegations-unique-fabricating-factory-2023-03-06/