Editor’s note: House Democrats and labor unions are focused upon the labor rights provisions of the USMCA to determine whether they will support it. CPA has sought country of origin labeling for beef and pork as well.
Labor legislation under consideration in the Mexican Congress fails to meet the requirements of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, according to a letter House Democrats Bill Pascrell (NJ) and Rosa DeLauro (CT) plan to send to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in the coming days.
[April 1, 2019 | InsideTrade.com]
The lawmakers have distributed the letter to others to ask for their signatures.
Several bills aimed at reforming Mexican labor practices are circulating, but legislation introduced on Jan. 3 by the majority party, Morena, with assistance from the Mexican labor secretariat, is considered the “official” bill under deliberation.
Annex 23 of USMCA says the Mexican government must adopt and maintain a set of provisions “necessary for the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining” and “Provide in its labor laws … an effective system to verify that elections of union leaders are carried out through a personal, free, and secret vote of union members.” Additionally, the agreement’s labor chapter states that the deal’s entry into force “may be delayed until” Mexican labor reform “becomes effective.” Congressional Democrats have repeatedly said that their support for USMCA hinges on securing enforceable labor provisions, among other issues.
But in a draft of the letter to Lighthizer obtained by Inside U.S. Trade, Pascrell and DeLauro note that “Mexico has not yet enacted, much less implemented, its labor law reform” and contend that the Morena party and labor secretariat’s version would not adequately fulfill the standards set in Annex 23.
Read the entire article here.
