Will the NAFTA labour side agreement hold the Mexican government accountable?

Public Communicatioon 2003-1(Puebla)

Public Meetings in Washington and Toronto

On April 1, 2004 in Washington DC, and on May 28, 2004 in Toronto, a tri-national delegation testified at public meetings convened by the National Administrative Offices (NAO) of the U.S. and Canadian governments. The purpose of these hearings was to gather detailed information regarding the labour rights violations and failure of the Mexican government to uphold its own labour laws documented in Public Communication 2003-1 (Puebla). This submission, known as the "Puebla Case", is the joint complaint presented to both NAOs by the Worker Assistance Center (CAT), United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) and the Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN) under the North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation (NAALC), better known as the NAFTA labour side agreement.

The complaint addresses worker rights violations at two factories located in the state of Puebla, Mexico: Matamoros Garment and Tarrant Ajalpan. It documents problems with failure to pay wages owing or legal overtime pay, long hours, and persistent health and safety violations. Those who tried to organize independent unions to address these problems were unjustly denied union certification and faced mass firings, harassment, and intimidation. In both cases, workers' attempts to resolve the violations via the appropriate legal channels were unsuccessful, whether due to the inability of the Mexican government's local Labour and Conciliation Boards to uphold Mexican labour law, or to their refusal to do so. In sum, the complainants allege that the Mexican government failed to fulfill its responsibilities concerning NAALC Principles 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7.

Read more about the North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation (NAALC)