Akron — This week, Goodyear has agreed to pay $4.2 million in unpaid wages to approximately 1,300 workers and former employees at a tire factory in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. This resolution, described by the U.S. Department of Labor as a “remediation of denial of workers’ rights,” was achieved through the implementation of a rapid-response labor provision of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a trade pact signed by the three countries in 2020.
The Labor Department said “The U.S. and Mexican governments negotiated the remediation in July 2023 to help workers who were receiving fewer wages and benefits than they were legally owed. Mexico and Goodyear took several actions to address denials of rights that the U.S. found during its investigation into the failure by the company to apply a sector-wide agreement and to allow workers to elect new union representatives.”
The Labor Department further said “The company also will increase payments into an employee savings program and contribute to a social welfare account that workers can use to fund unexpected layoffs and absences, additional vacation days and a larger end-of-year bonus.”
Thea Lee, deputy undersecretary for international affairs at the Labor Department, hailed the resolution and said “a testament to the power of the USMCA Rapid Response Mechanism and the dedication of the government of Mexico, Goodyear and the tenacious workers at Goodyear that we are seeing these historic outcomes.”
The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Katherine Tai, in a statement, commended Goodyear “for participating in a good-faith bargaining process with workers at this facility. We hope this case provides a model to other companies, including in the rubber sector, and that the sector-wide agreement will be enforced at other facilities across the rubber industry.”
The facility in San Luis Potosí employs approximately 1,150 union-eligible workers engaged in the production of rubber tires.
Under the USMCA’s Rapid Response Labor Mechanism, the United States can initiate enforcement measures concerning the labor conditions at a specific factory in Mexico if it fails to adhere to domestic laws regarding freedom of association and collective bargaining.
