U.S. Trade Rep. (USTR) Katherine Tai recently regarded the votes submitted by General Motors workers at a pickup truck plant in Mexico as an indicator of "the significant benefits of true collective bargaining," Reuters reported.
According to the trade expert, under the labor protections terms of the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) trade deal, "workers no longer have to tolerate contracts negotiated behind their backs and have the right to vote on an agreement after it's negotiated."
A recent Reuters report reveals that General Motors agreed to receive an 8.5% wage hike and establish an independent union in Silao, Mexico. Mexico's federal labor center confirmed that the contract was approved by a 87% vote, due to go into effect in June.
The automotive manufacturer now awaits approval from the Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration to officially complete the process. The vote comes after the USTR invoked powers under USMCA, requesting the country to investigate abuses reported at the Silao plant following a union contract vote in April 2021.
Those powers "helped workers get to this vote, and the United States will continue to work with Mexico to protect worker rights," Tai said.
The agreement serves as the first of its kind to spark a raise since the USMCA was launched. Additionally, SINTTIA recently became the first-ever independent union for the GM Silao plant.
Under NAFTA and union system terms, Mexican factory wages remained at a steady rate for more than 20 years.
“GM won key changes to USMCA that allowed it to continue to build hundreds of thousands of high-profit pickups in Mexico for export to the United States annually,” Reuters reported.