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GM Labor Vote in Mexico Raises Red Flags for Unifor, AFL-CIO

GM Labor Vote in Mexico Raises Red Flags for Unifor, AFL-CIO

The largest unions in the U.S. and Canada are raising questions about the fairness of a worker vote that’s set to take place at General Motors Co.’s truck plant in Mexico. 

There are “substantial reasons to doubt” the vote set for Feb. 1-2 will be free and fair as workers choose between four unions, Canada’s Unifor said in a Jan. 18 letter to Mexican authorities. The AFL-CIO said separately it’s “concerned by the lack of protection for workers’ rights inside the GM plant.”

Mexico’s largest and most entrenched labor group, the Confederation of Mexican Workers, or CTM, is trying to keep hold of one of GM’s largest plants and block a new union from representing workers who are seeking better conditions, along with improved pay and benefits, Unifor says.

Mexico’s largest and most entrenched labor group, the Confederation of Mexican Workers, or CTM, is trying to keep hold of one of GM’s largest plants and block a new union from seeking better pay and benefits. The factory is located in Silao, a city in Guanajuato.

The workers, who formed the Sindicato Independiente Nacional de Trabajadores y Trabajadoras de la Industrial Automotriz, or SINTTIA, said the ballot is being padded by little-known labor groups that will dilute the vote and prevent it from becoming the main bargaining unit.

“It’s clearly a system that has been devised to create confusion and to ensure that SINTTIA doesn’t end up with 50% plus one,” Unifor President Jerry Dias said in a phone interview. “I believe that if workers have the opportunity for a free vote, free of harassment and intimidation, that no worker will support the CTM and decades more of exploitation. The only way the CTM can win is if they cheat.”

SINTTIA can gain a foothold in the factory with just 30% of the vote but would need 51% in a subsequent vote to gain approval for a labor agreement. Unifor’s concern is that CTM and its affiliates will stay in the plant and split the vote, making it difficult to get a better contract for workers, Dias said.

The Canadian union wants the Mexican government to run the voting process to ensure a proper election. He said Unifor will be there to observe and the International Labour Organization, which is part of the U.N., will monitor the ballot.

SINTTIA called for authorities to respect union freedom in a Jan. 18 statement.

One of SINTTIA’s opponents is part of the CTM. Unifor has suggested the other two are either affiliated with the CTM or, at the least, aren’t independent and don’t seek to represent the interests of the workers. Dias said he believes all three are connected to the CTM.

The Canadian union said the CTM affiliate has used previous delays in the vote to campaign in the workplace and bring in the other groups to divide worker votes.

“One of these unions appeared suddenly, with no history of representation or membership in the plant,” Unifor said in a statement.

CTM Canceled

In August, workers at the plant canceled their union contract with CTM after the U.S. initiated a dispute over conditions there, a historic victory tied to the new North American free trade agreement. The pact, known as USMCA, sets out provisions for Mexico that are meant to drive out unions that haven’t represented their workers for decades.

The AFL-CIO said GM and Mexican labor authorities need to guarantee the conditions for a fair and open union election “as prescribed by the USMCA and the Mexican labor reform.”

GM said in an email it “will be a facilitator within the process and will do whatever the authorities require within the applicable law to guarantee that the democratic exercise is successful.”

The labor authority “determined the unions’ eligibility to participate in the vote and alerted GM. We are against any acts of intimidation and we invite workers to denounce -- freely and anonymously -- any violation to the rules throughout the voting process.”

Unifor and the AFL-CIO didn’t return calls for additional comment. The Labor Ministry had no comment.

Trade Deal

Hugo Varela, the CTM confederation leader in Guanajuato, said his affiliate collected the signatures needed to be on the ballot in a fair manner. 

“This process has to be very transparent and clean and respect the will of the people,” he said.

Officials with CTM at the national level didn’t immediately comment, and the other two unions on the ballot couldn’t be reached for comment.

As part of the revamped North American trade deal, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s administration pushed through a law in 2019 that requires unions to hold votes by secret ballot to validate their labor contracts.

The Silao Assembly Plant has more than 6,000 unionized workers and is located about 215 miles (350km) northwest of Mexico City.

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