First Services Complaint Filed Under USMCA Rapid Response Labor Mechanism
The U.S. government alleges that management at Mas Air, a cargo airline in Mexico City, coerced pilots to retain the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Industria Aeronautica, and asked pilots who had joined the Asociacion Sindical de Pilotos Aviadores de Mexico, or ASPA, to resign.
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Workers at Mas Air held a vote on whether to retain STIA or choose ASPA to represent them in May, and STIA won.
“Workers’ ability to affiliate with the union of their choice is a key tenet of the freedom of association and collective bargaining rights the [Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM)] is designed to protect,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in an Aug. 30 news release.
She said the U.S. will use the RRM to protect all Mexican workers' rights, including those in the services sector.
The text of the trade treaty that established the mechanism talks about suspending tariff benefits for facilities that do not remediate problems, as well as "imposition of penalties on ... services provided by the Covered Facility."
The U.S. government's complaint also says the pilots have not been able to vote on a collective bargaining agreement that accurately sets out their terms and conditions of work. That is an element of Mexican labor law reform, as it is common for captive unions to make agreements with management that workers never see or vote on.