news

WASHINGTON—Congressman Paul D. Tonko threw his strong support behind a trade complaint recently filed by the AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Sindicato Nacional Independiente de Trabajadores de Industrias y de Servicios MOVIMIENTO 20/32 (SNITIS) and Public Citizen accusing Tridonex, an auto parts factory located in Matamoros in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico, of violating its workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively—anticompetitive abuses that appear to violate the universal labor standards established in the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

“For decades, workers in Mexico have faced a corrupt system of employer-controlled ‘protection unions’ who sign bogus collective bargaining contracts to lock in low wages and standards without workers’ consent, violating their basic human rights and the ability of U.S. companies and workers to compete on a level playing field,” Congressman Tonko said. “Last Congress, we brought together America’s leading voices including labor unions and activists from across our nation to build strong, enforceable labor standards into the heart of the new NAFTA agreement, standards that our trade partners signed and agreed to uphold. These abusive actions by Tridonex are a clear and indefensible violation of those standards and put U.S. workers and industries at an illegal disadvantage. I stand with our workers and our labor unions in calling for an immediate end to these unjust practices and for the company involved to be held accountable to the clear terms of our international agreements.”

For two years, workers at Tridonex have been harassed and fired for trying to organize with SNITIS, an independent Mexican union of their choice, to replace a corrupt “protection” union. Their lawyer, Susana Prieto Terrazas, gained international media notice after the Tamaulipas governor, who is opposed to labor reform, had her jailed for a month in a COVID-ridden state penitentiary on trumped-up charges. Prieto was only released after agreeing to internal exile in another Mexican state and a ban on appearing in labor court.

This filing is first of its kind under the Rapid Response Mechanism. The Tridonex case provides a critical test of whether Mexico’s labor reforms and USMCA’s Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) can deliver for Mexican workers denied their fundamental right to organize and bargain for better wages and working conditions.

“USMCA requires Mexico to end the reign of protection unions and their corrupt deals with employers,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. “The ongoing harassment of Susana Prieto and SNITIS members is a textbook violation of the labor laws Mexico has pledged to uphold.”

“Tridonex’s suppression of workers’ rights has cost our members in Philadelphia hundreds of good manufacturing jobs and now they're doing the same to workers in Matamoros,” said SEIU President Mary Kay Henry. “USMCA requires Mexico to enforce its labor laws and the Rapid Response mechanism was designed to ensure facility-specific enforcement opportunities to help workers here at home and in Mexico who want to join together in unions, have safe workplaces, and raise their families with dignity." 

###