U.S. asks Mexico to probe alleged rights abuses at Fujikura plant in Piedras Negras (updated)

Fujikura

14/12/2023 20:21

(Adds quote from U.S. official, context on company operations)
       MEXICO CITY, Dec 14 (Reuters) - U.S. labor officials on
Thursday asked Mexico to review whether workers at a Fujikura
 5803.T  auto parts plant in the northern border city of Piedras
Negras were being denied the right to choose their union, the
U.S. Department of Labor said.
    The U.S. has requested more than a dozen such probes at
workplaces in Mexico under a 2020 regional trade pact that
replaced NAFTA with the aim of ensuring worker protections.
    The Department of Labor said a Mexican worker advocacy group
requested an investigation into allegations that Japan-based
Fujikura blacklisted workers based on their prior union
activity.
        "The practices of blacklisting and discrimination in
hiring for engaging in protected union activity undercut
workers' right to organize and choose a union freely," said
Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs Thea Lee in a
statement. 
  
        Fujikura did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
  
        Fujikura Automotive Mexico, as the company's local
branch is known, employs some 5,000 people in Piedras Negras,
where it makes wire harnesses and cables for autos, according to
the Department of Labor.
  

 (Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Anthony Esposito
and Sarah Morland)
 ((daina.solomon@thomsonreuters.com; +52 55 5282 7150;))