Ways and Means Democrats Question Lack of Labor Department Spending for Mexican Labor Organizing
House Ways and Means Committee Democrats are asking Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer why the money provided for the Labor Department's Bureau of International Labor Affairs is not supporting worker organizing, as the implementing act suggested.
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The USMCA Implementation Act provided $180 million, with the instructions that it “shall be used to support reforms of the labor justice system in Mexico, including grants to support worker focused capacity building,” the lawmakers' July 23 letter said. It notes labor experts say that at least $30 million annually is needed to fund advocates' lawyers and research into companies, and to educate Mexican workers about their rights and train them on how to exercise those rights. It said 76% of union contracts in Mexico are protection contracts, which represent employers' interests, not workers'.
“We ask that you provide a response, in writing, that details how the USMCA funds are being used consistent with the USMCA appropriations made by Congress,” Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., wrote. Every Democrat on the committee signed the letter.