Contact: Ben Davis, 412-562-2501, bdavis@usw.org
(Pittsburgh) – The United Steelworkers today welcomed the announcement by the U.S. Trade Representative and the Department of Labor that the case filed against Goodyear on April 20 under the United States-Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) Rapid Response Labor Mechanism was resolved.
The case, filed by the independent union, the Mexican Workers’ Union League, centered on workers who were denied their rights at the company’s plant in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
On April 23, a vote on the legitimation of the plant-level labor contract was suspended after the incumbent CTM union stole the ballot box. In a re-run on May 8, the workers voted overwhelmingly to throw out the CTM contract that had been signed without worker participation.
“As the union representing Goodyear workers in the United States, the USW supported the Mexican workers’ fight to win democratic representation over the past five years,” said USW International President Tom Conway.
“All workers deserve to choose their union in a free and fair election. The USW thanks all the members of Congress who fought for strong labor rights enforcement in the USMCA and who supported the Goodyear workers and all Mexican workers who are fighting for democratic representation.”
- The agreement announced today provides that:
- The company will remain neutral with respect to the pending vote between the LSOM and the CTM for the right to administer the industry-wide collective agreement (contract law).
- The contract law for the rubber industry applies to the facility, and the plant level agreement is invalid. However, any terms and conditions in the plant level agreement that are more favorable than the terms of the contract law will be applied going forward. Workers who were misclassified will receive a year’s back pay and benefits, the maximum under Mexican law.
- The company will harmonize current plant rules and conditions with the provisions of the contract law, in consultation with the workers and the federal center.
- The government labor authorities will distribute information on the Contract Law throughout the rubber sector.
Conway said that the case established a strong precedent and called on all tire industry employers in Mexico to respect workers’ rights.
“We call on all tire industry employers to maintain strict neutrality in any union organizing campaign,” Conway said. “We also call on the Mexican authorities to arrest and prosecute the persons responsible for the theft of the ballot box earlier this year.”
The USW represents 850,000 workers in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in health care, public sector, higher education, tech and service occupations.