GM workers in Mexico reject union in win for US free trade pact

A previous vote at the General Motors plant in Silao in April was thrown out after Mexico found irregularities in the election held by the union, a chapter of the country’s largest syndicate, the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM). 

Workers at a General Motors Co. truck plant in Mexico voted to cancel their union contract after the U.S. initiated a dispute against conditions at the factory, a historic victory for the North American free trade agreement. Employees at the huge GM plant in Silao, Guanajuato, voted 3,214 for, and 2,623 against, terminating their contract, allowing them to choose a new union. In Mexico, giant labor confederations have struck deals for decades with companies that have kept worker pay low, angering Mexico’s North American partners. The vote emerged as an important test case for new labor provisions under the revamped North America trade deal, known as USMCA, which the U.S. cited to file its labor dispute. And as one of the three GM plants that produce highly profitable pickup trucks, the plant is critical to the company’s balance sheet.