The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Aug. 5 the successful resolution of a facility-specific petition under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Rapid Response Labor Mechanism, which involved a light vehicle aluminum wheel manufacturing facility in Chihuahua.
Actions taken by the facility and the Mexican government to address the matter included:
- reinstating seven workers under the same terms and conditions held before they were dismissed in retaliation for union activity and issuing full back payments and benefits;
- providing full severance packages to four more workers who had been dismissed in retaliation for their union activity but chose not to return to the facility;
- committing to reinstate or provide severance packages for two additional workers, based on the respective worker’s preference;
- adopting, disseminating, and implementing a neutrality statement and company guidelines on freedom of association and collective bargaining, including a zero-tolerance policy for violations, and training all company personnel on the guidelines and neutrality commitments;
- withdrawing a prior complaint filed with the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Chihuahua against workers who participated in previous work stoppages;
- delivering in-person trainings for all company personnel on freedom of association and collective bargaining; and
- monitoring the facility and engaging with the workers and the company throughout its review period.
Based on these measures, USTR has directed the Treasury Department to resume liquidation of unliquidated entries of goods from the facility.
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