The complaints and denunciations of the workers of General Motors they reached the United States Congress, who are attentive to the voting process that will take place on February 1 and 2, and warned about the importance of guaranteeing free and transparent elections.
In a statement, the chairman of the Media and Commerce Subcommittee of the House of Representatives, along with US Congressmen Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) and Dan Kildee (D-MI), argued that “workers should be able to choose which union they want to represent them without interference from corporations or protection unions, either who work in Mexico or in the United States.”
They also indicated that Congress continues to monitor the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) labor compliance, “we are alarmed by reports of continued harassment, intimidation and violence against independent union activists in the General Motors automotive plant in Silao, Mexico, before the union elections next week”.
They highlighted that thanks to the constant work of the House Democrats and the leadership of Ambassador Katherine Tai Last year, the Silao facility became the site of the US government’s first self-initiated labor case after blatant violations of workers’ rights during a union contract legitimization vote.
Without immediate action to protect workers’ rights, the historic progress made in enforcing the 2021 case could be lost.
In that regard, they said it is imperative that GM and the Mexican labor authority ensure that each worker can cast their secret ballot freely and without intimidation, disseminate electoral information to all workers, guarantee the immediate presence of official and independent electoral observers, and facilitate transportation and full access to vote for all workers.
“These protections are essential and help protect the rights of workers in Mexico and also in the United States, as they raise the minimum level of labor standards on both sides of our border,” they indicated.
