Wednesday, the United States has asked Mexico to review whether workers at Minera Tizapa S.A. de C.V., a zinc mine Zacazonapan, Mexico, are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The US has suspended liquidation of tariffs on goods from the facility, a venture of of Industrias Peñoles and Japan's Sumitomo Corp. and Dowa Metals & Mining. Zinc concentrates produced at Tizapa are sent to Japan for processing.
Earlier in the week the US asked Mexico to review whether workers at the Servicios Industriales González, S.A. de C.V. facility, a major metal fabricatorand supplier for Caterpillar, John Deere and Komatsu are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The United States has suspended liquidation on unliquidated entries of goods from the facility.
The requests, which were made in response to petitions, mark the twenty-first and twenty-second time respectively the US has formally invoked the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
On February 29, 2024, the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores del Ramo de Transporte en General, La Construcción y sus Servicios(SNTTYC), an independent union, filed a Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) petition alleging a denial of rights at Servicios Industriales González, S.A. de C.V. (SIG) in the State of Nuevo Leon, Mexico.
The petition alleged that SIG dismissed workers in retaliation for undertaking union organizing activity, interfered in union affairs, and provided preferential access to its facility to its preferred union to the detriment of other labor organizations.
The ILC determined that there is sufficient, credible evidence of a denial of rights enabling the good faith invocation of enforcement mechanisms. As a result, the United States Trade Representative has submitted a request to Mexico that Mexico review whether workers at SIG are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Mexico has 10 days to agree to conduct a review and, if it agrees, 45 days from today to complete the review.
A copy of the request for review can be found here.
A copy of the letter to the Secretary of the Treasury can be found here.
On March 4, 2024, the ILC received an RRM petition from the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros, Metalúrgicos, Siderúrgicos y Similares de la República Mexicana (Los Mineros), an independent Mexican union.
Peñoles is the second largest Mexican mining company, the first Mexican producer of gold, zinc and lead and the world leader in silver production. The company is a subsidiary of Grupo BAL, the conglomerate controlled by the heirs of Mexican billionaire Alberto Gonzalez Baillères
The petition alleges Industrias Peñoles committed acts of employer interference in union affairs, by dismissing several workers in retaliation for their union activity and demonstrating favoritism toward the incumbent union, such as by paying a special bonus only to its affiliates. The ILC reviews RRM petitions that it receives, and the accompanying information, within 30 days.
The ILC determined that there is sufficient, credible evidence of a denial of rights enabling the good faith invocation of enforcement mechanisms. As a result, the United States Trade Representative has submitted a request to Mexico that Mexico review whether workers at Minera Tizapa are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Mexico has 10 days to agree to conduct a review and, if it agrees, 45 days from today to complete the review.
A copy of the request for review can be found here.
A copy of the letter to the Secretary of the Treasury can be found here.
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