Julie Su Acting United States Secretary of Labor | Official Website
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement has requested a review by the Mexican government regarding findings that workers' rights were denied at a Volkswagen assembly plant in Puebla, Mexico. This follows an April 25, 2024, petition filed by ten dismissed workers who allege that Volkswagen Mexico violated their freedom of association and collective bargaining rights at the country's largest auto factory.
The petition, filed under the USMCA’s Rapid Response Labor Mechanism, claims wrongful dismissal of ten members of the outgoing leadership committee of the Independent Union of Workers of the Automotive, Similar and Related Industries Volkswagen de Mexico (Sindicato Independiente de Trabajadores de Industria Automotriz, Similares y Conexos Volkswagen de México) following a recent union election.
“We are deeply concerned by the alleged violations of freedom of association against ten union members at the Volkswagen plant in Puebla given its historically important role in Mexico’s economy and the nation’s independent trade union movement. Retaliating against workers for their union activities violates the workers’ basic and fundamental rights that the USMCA protects,” said Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs Thea Lee. “We are committed to working with the Mexican government to investigate these matters thoroughly and to ensure that Volkswagen workers’ essential rights are upheld.”
Co-chaired by the Department of Labor and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the agreement's Interagency Labor Committee found sufficient evidence to suggest denial of workers' freedom of association and collective bargaining rights, prompting them to initiate this review request.
“Today’s action reflects the United States’ unwavering commitment to ensuring workers can engage in union activity without fearing reprisals. Workplaces should respect, not punish, workers exercising their freedom of association and collective bargaining rights, and this is how we are empowering workers and their communities through the USMCA,” said Ambassador Katherine Tai. “To date, the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism has directly benefitted almost 30,000 workers and their families, and we look forward to working with the government of Mexico to address issues at this facility.”
The Mexican government now has ten days to decide whether it will conduct a review and 45 days to investigate these claims before presenting its findings.
The Volkswagen Mexico plant in Puebla employs approximately 6,100 assembly line workers along with 5,000 supervisory or trusted employees and thousands more parts-assembly staff. The facility produces about 2,300 vehicles daily across six different models. In 2023 alone, it exported over 300,000 vehicles with 67 percent destined for sale in the United States.
