More Updates

Workers vote in favour of union democracy at three Mexican factories

Mar 8, 2022 —

August 2021 vote at GM Silao. STPS.

2022 has begun with three important victories in favour of the rights of Mexican workers to freedom of association and collective bargaining, rights that have been strengthened by Mexico’s labour justice reform and the labour chapter of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

The first two wins involve workers at two separate auto factories who voted in free and fair secret-ballot votes in favour of women-led independent unions.

DLUM marks International Women’s Day

Mar 7, 2022 —

Photo: Sara Montes Ramirez from Colectivo Raíz Aguascalientes (CRA - RedDLUM)

On March 5, the women members of the Network of United Labour Rights Defenders in the Maquila (RedDLUM) held their first public event in Mexico, in honour of International Women’s Day. The online event, “Updating Women’s Rights at Work” provided a platform for women who work, or have worked, in clothing and auto parts factories to discuss their working conditions in the context of the 2019 reform to the Federal Labour Law.

Ortega regime cancels MEC’s legal status, but their work will continue

Feb 22, 2022 —

Members of MEC engaged in workshops at the MEC office on the same day as the National Assembly voted to cancel the organization's legal status.

The week of February 14, the Nicaraguan National Assembly voted to cancel the legal status of 12 Nicaraguan and international NGOs, including the country’s strongest and most outspoken defender of women maquila workers’ rights, the Maria Elena Cuadra Women’s Movement (MEC).

Garment workers in Karnataka, India owed millions in unpaid wages

Feb 4, 2022 —

Photo: #PayYourWorkers

Over 400,000 garment workers in the garment hub of Karnataka in India have not been paid the state’s legal minimum wage since April 2020. The Worker Rights Consortium calls this the “worst wage theft” ever seen in the global garment industry, with the estimated total amount of unpaid wages exceeding US$58 million. With each month that goes by, the amount owed to the workers will continue to accumulate by more than $2 million.

Independent Mexican union wins vote at GM Silao

Feb 4, 2022 —

Unions and other worker rights organizations show their solidarity with
GM workers near the plant in Silao. Credit: Arturo Left and Ulises Vidal

The independent union SINTTIA has won a precedent-setting vote among four unions competing to represent over 6,000 workers at the GM Silao pickup truck factory in Guanajuato, Mexico in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.

In the highly anticipated February 1-2 vote, 4,192 out of the 5,478 votes cast were for SINTTIA, 932 and 247 respectively for two unions linked to Mexico’s largest official union confederation, the CTM. A third union affiliated with Mexico’s second largest official union confederation, the CROC, only received 18 votes.

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