The Department of Economy informed that it will conduct an investigation against the Pirelli tire company in response to the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism requested by the United States from the Mexican Government, as the former considers that there was a denial of labor rights by the tire company against its workers.
This request against the Pirelli plant located at Silao de la Victoria, Guanajuato, was made through the United States Trade Representation (USTR) on August 23, questioning the non-application of the industry-wide Labor Agreement for the tire industry and the existence of a collective bargaining agreement.
By admitting this request for review, the Department of Labor and Social Welfare only has 45 days to conduct the investigation and propose a remediation plan; this period is counted from the date in which the US request was received.
This labor mechanism was requested under Annex 31-A of the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (USMCA).
Óscar de la Vega, partner at the De la Vega & Martínez Rojas Firm told EL UNIVERSAL that the Pirelli case is related to an issue that is not included in Annex 31-A of the USMCA.
Because the USMCA talks about initiating labor mechanisms in cases of denial of the rights of freedom of union association and collective bargaining and the US petition against Pirelli has to do with whether the industry-wide Labor Agreement of the tire company is still in force or not, “this should be the subject of a trial in Mexico, but (the United States) is involving these topics in order to gain strength in labor matters, but this must be limited to freedom of association and collective bargaining matters.”
