LatinNews Daily - 17 April 2024

*Mexico’s labour ministry (STPS) has announced that it has accepted requests from the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) to review the alleged denial of workers’ rights at two separate facilities. The first request, which Mexico received on 1 April, relates to a facility operated by Servicios Industriales González in the northern state of Nuevo León which specialises in fabricating steel components. The second request was received on 3 April and concerns a facility operated by Minera Tizapa, a subsidiary of Industria Peñoles, Mexico’s second-largest mining company, in Zacazonapan municipality, Estado de México (Edomex). In both cases, the USTR has asked Mexico to review whether workers are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The STPS has 45 days from receiving the requests to complete the reviews. The requests mark the 21st and 22nd times that the US has formally invoked the rapid response labour mechanism (RRM) in the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). This comes as USTR Katherine Tai announced on 16 April that the US had requested an RRM panel in relation to a labour dispute at a facility operated by Spanish firm Atento Servicios in the city of Pachuca, Hidalgo state. This is the second time the US has requested a panel under the RRM.