USMCA: Panasonic Automotive Systems Labor Case

The labor case of a Panasonic Automotive Systems facility under the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism of the Mexico-United States-Canada Agreement (USMCA) was successfully concluded.

Initially, in April 2022, the Mexican union Sindicato Nacional Independiente de Trabajadores de Industrias y de Servicios Movimiento 20/32 (SNITIS) and a U.S.-based political organization filed an MLRR petition concerning Panasonic Automotive Systems, an automotive parts producer in Reynosa, Mexico.

The petition alleged that workers at the Reynosa plant were denied the right to free association and collective bargaining.

Panasonic Automotive Systems

At the request of the United States, the plant took several steps, including renouncing a collective bargaining agreement it had signed with a union that lacked legal authority to bargain; reimbursing workers for dues that the company had deducted from their paychecks on behalf of the union; offering reinstatement and back pay to 26 workers who had allegedly been fired for engaging in union activities; and reimbursing workers for unpaid wages resulting from a work stoppage at the plant.

SNITIS has since won a representation election at the plant and has negotiated a collective bargaining agreement that includes a substantial wage increase, according to information from the United States Trade Representative (USTR).