News Release Archive: OPA Press Release: U.S. National Administrative Office Issues Public Report on Submission (April 1995)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of Public Affairs

U.S. NATIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE ISSUES PUBLIC REPORT ON SUBMISSION Tues., April 11, 1995

For more information call: 202/219-7316.

The United States National Administrative Office (NAO) today issued its public report of review on a complaint alleging violations of freedom of association and the right to organize at Sony Corporation's maquiladora plants in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

The NAO was established in the U.S. Department of Labor under the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC), which is commonly referred to as the labor side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The report released today is the result of a submission filed Aug. 16, 1994, by four human rights and workers' rights organizations. It was accepted for review by the NAO on Oct. 13, 1994. The submission alleged that Mexican labor laws were not followed when workers at the plant challenged the existing union for more democratic representation and for collaborating with company management.

Approximately 2100 workers, 80 percent women, work at five plants in Nuevo Laredo making computer disks and video/audio cassette tapes. The complaint with the U.S. NAO was filed on their behalf by the International Labor Rights Education and Research Fund, the National Association of Democratic Lawyers, the coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras, and the American Friends Service Committee.

In the report, the U.S. NAO recommends trinational exchange programs on several industrial relations issues, and further recommends ministerial consultations between Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich and Mexican Secretary of Labor Santiago O¤ate. The goal of the consultations is to further explore the operation of the union registration process in Mexico.

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