GM Workers in Mexico Face Key Union Vote

Workers at General Motors plant in Silao, Mexico are scheduled to select which union will serve as their representative in bargaining with GM. 

Workers at General Motors Silao (Mexico) plant are scheduled to vote on which union will represent them in talks with GM.

The vote is supposed to cap off a contentious process, giving workers in Mexico a larger voice in setting wages and working conditions. The process is backed up by provisions in the new U.S, Mexican and Canadian Trade Agreement, which are designed to break up the cozy relationship between American businesses and old-line Mexican labor unions that has helped keep wages low. 

Last summer, workers at Silao, a sprawling plant where GM builds highly profitable full-sized pickup trucks, voted decisively for a change in union representation, which had been handled for years by chapter of CTM, the century-old confederation of labor, which critics contend had a long history of signing sweet-heart deals. The deals benefited companies like GM and served to limit the influence of workers. 

Independent union key to trade pact 

The goal of USMCA was to give independent unions more influence. Unions in the U.S, including the United Auto Workers, and their Democratic allies in Congress previously threatened to block the trade agreement if they did not include the provisions demanded by organized labor. 

Needing Democratic votes for passage of the proposed trade pact, the Trump administration agreed to the language demanded by American trade unions. 

Allies of organized labor in the U.S. such as Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint) were instrumental in pressuring GM and the Mexican government in organizing the vote in Silao last year. However, CTM and its allies have fought back, claiming the vote in Silao was influenced by “outsiders.” 

Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint) was critical in bringing about change in the voting at the plant.

The Mexican government’s Labor Department has upheld the outcome of the vote but as workers vote for this week CTM is asking to represent them. Another independent union also is asking to represent the Silao workers, but two other groups also filed for the right to bargain on behalf of the workers. 

UAW, Unifor call for outside observers  

Both the UAW and Unifor, the union representing Canadian Auto Workers, have complained GM is against the new measures in the USMCA and is supporting the bid by CTM with whom the automaker has had a long and profitable relationship.  

UAW President Ray Curry called on Mexican labor authorities and General Motors to take all necessary steps to ensure that the upcoming union election at GM’s Silao plant in Mexico is democratic, transparent and free from intimidation.  

More than 7,000 workers at the plant will have an opportunity to vote their union representation on Feb. 1 and 2. 

“The UAW has a long history standing in solidarity with workers seeking independent union representation in the United States and around the world,” said Curry. “This solidarity extends to our brothers and sisters in Mexico and the workers of General Motors Silao in their struggle to have a democratic and transparent union election.” 

GM’s Silao truck plant has been at the center of labor issues before.

Curry urged that the U.S. and Mexican governments and GM work together to ensure workers are allowed to exercise their right to vote freely without fear of reprisal in the upcoming election.  

Request for comment from GM have not been answered. 

Push for transparency

The UAW and Unifor have asked specifically that GM provide the independent union and all petitioning unions a reliable voter list immediately. 

The union’s also international and domestic observers allowed into the GM Silao facility during the voting. The inspectors should conduct investigations and random interviews with workers to verify the work environment is free from coercion and intimidation, and that the vote will be free, secret and personal. 

CTM, which traditionally operated with impunity to Mexican factories and workplaces, had vigorously opposed the presence of independent observers during the first vote last summer. 

“Finally, the Mexican government and General Motors must take all necessary steps to ensure that violence inside the plant, and in the surrounding communities, does not influence the outcome of the vote,” the unions said. 

Political violence is common in Mexico and supporters of independent union opposed to CTM have offered testimony, noting they have threatened and in some instances beaten for their stands they have taken.

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