David Shepardson and Daina Bet Solomon

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) –Three U.S. legislators urged General Motors (NYSE 🙂 and Mexico to protect worker rights in advance of a union vote next Wednesday of Mexican autoworkers working at a central Mexico pick-up truck factory.

Representative Earl Blumenauer, who chairs a House Ways and Means subcommittee on trade, along with Representatives Bill Pascrell and Dan Kildee raised concerns Friday about reports of worker intimidation ahead of next week’s union election at GM’s Silao plant in Guanajuato, where it builds the Silverado.

“It is imperative that GM and Mexico’s labor authority ensure that every single worker may cast a secret ballot freely and without intimidation,” the lawmakers said.

Friday, GM announced that it had “been absolutely dedicated to working with Mexican authorities, work force observers, and all other partners (including the (Biden), Administration and U.S. Congress in order to create the conditions for a free, fair, and peaceful election by workers from Silao.”

GM said it was looking forward to working with the union leaders chosen by its work force and addressing workers’ concerns in the negotiations process that will follow.

Mexico’s Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration, which is organizing the vote, said Friday it has taken various steps to ensure a fair vote, including launching an email account to receive worker complaints and inspecting the plant to ensure access for voters.

An estimated 7,000 Silao worker will have the opportunity to elect between four new unions, in accordance with a Mexican labor Reform that aims at guaranteeing freedom of association.

The vote on the collective contract last year was marred in the beginning by irregularities including the destruction of ballots. This prompted the U.S government to request increased scrutiny under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

The workers eventually voted for the dissolution of the contract and opened the doors to electing a new union.

Over the years, Mexican workers have faced intimidation as a result of union voting and attempts to organize.

U.S. officials in September closed https://www.reuters.com/business/us-trade-office-says-gm-mexico-labor-case-concluded-tariff-threat-lifted-2021-09-22 the GM complaint about last year’s vote, but the U.S. Department of Labor and the office of the U.S. Trade Representative are still tracking the issue, a U.S. government labor committee report said last week.