Mexico Goodyear workers win $4.2 million back pay in US labor rights challenge

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government on Monday announced that a labor rights mediation plan at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co plant in Mexico has delivered $4.2 million in back pay to more than 1,300 current and former workers.

The U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) office said the successful conclusion of their “rapid response” labor rights challenge under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade also resulted in immediate wage gains for most workers at the plant through a reclassification of job categories in line with a sector-wide labor agreement.

USTR brought the challenge last May under the trade deal’s factory-specific provisions to combat denials of labor rights, such as electing new unions.

A remediation plan for Goodyear’s San Luis Potosi factory, which employs about 1,150 workers making vehicle tires, was agreed in July by Goodyear, and the U.S. and Mexican governments, including providing back pay to eligible workers for “failure to apply” the sector-wide labor contract.

“We look forward to seeing the union-management relationship mature and deepen at Goodyear San Luis Potosi, and throughout Mexico’s rubber industry as the sector-wide agreement is implemented throughout the country,” Labor Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs Thea Lee said in a statement.