The Mexican government has formally accepted a request from the United States to review alleged labour rights violations at Volkswagen Mexico facilities situated in the state of Puebla. This decision was announced through a joint statement by Mexico’s economy ministry and labour ministry on Tuesday. The request, made under the provisions of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), was submitted by U.S. trade officials.
In late May, the U.S. Trade Representative had approached Mexico, seeking a review of whether workers at the Volkswagen Mexico facility in Cuautlancingo, Puebla, were being denied their freedom of association and collective bargaining rights. This request came in response to a petition filed by former Volkswagen workers, invoking the rapid response labour mechanism established under the USMCA.
According to the Mexican government’s statement, the Mexican authorities now have a period of 45 days to conduct a comprehensive review to determine if there was indeed a denial of labour rights at the Volkswagen plant in question.
The request from the U.S. trade authorities stems from allegations made by 10 workers who claim they were wrongfully dismissed by Volkswagen Mexico after a recent union election. These fired workers were members of the outgoing leadership committee of the Independent Union of Workers of the Automotive, Similar and Related Industries Volkswagen de Mexico.
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement, co-chaired by the Department of Labor and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, found “sufficient and credible evidence” that workers’ freedom of association and collective bargaining rights were denied at the Volkswagen plant in Puebla. Based on these findings, the committee initiated the review request to the Mexican government.
According to the press release issued on May 28, Mexico’s government has a 10-day window to decide whether to conduct the review and subsequently 45 days to investigate the claims and present its findings.
Thea Lee, the Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs, expressed deep concern over the alleged violations of freedom of association against the 10 union members at the Volkswagen plant in Puebla.
She highlighted the historically important role this plant has played in Mexico’s economy and the nation’s independent trade union movement. Lee emphasised that retaliating against workers for their union activities violates the basic rights that the USMCA is designed to protect.
In a statement provided to Automotive Dive, Volkswagen acknowledged receiving notice of the claims regarding its Puebla plant on May 28. While declining to comment on the specifics of the case, the automaker stated that it is fully cooperating with government entities investigating the claims in the U.S. and Mexico. Volkswagen affirmed its respect for employees’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, highlighting its strong history of working productively with labour unions globally.
The Volkswagen Mexico plant in Puebla, which is the country’s largest and longest-operating auto factory, employs approximately 6,100 assembly line workers, 5,000 supervisory or trusted employees, and thousands of parts-assembly workers. This plant manufactures 2,300 vehicles per day across six models, and in 2023, Volkswagen exported more than 300,000 of these vehicles, with 67 per cent destined for the U.S. market.
In a separate development within the auto industry’s union landscape, workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted to join the United Auto Workers (UAW) last month. This historic win for the UAW saw more than 2,600 workers vote in favour of unionising, with a 73 per cent margin of victory. Before the election, Volkswagen faced accusations of unfair labour practices, as workers at the Tennessee facility claimed they faced retaliation from management for rallying their coworkers to join the union and signing union cards to show their support.