Special thanks to Jose (Pepe) Larroque, Salvador Pasquel Villegas, and Martha Mayorga-Luna.

“Nearshoring” in Mexico is a hot topic for multinational companies considering moving business and manufacturing closer to home. COVID-19-era global supply chain disruptions and changes to the global economy are causing companies to reexamine their sourcing options and relocating to Mexico

What has changed

On December 10, 2019, the United States, Canada and Mexico reached an agreement on a revised United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”), which establishes a rapid response labor mechanism (“RRLM”) for dispute resolution for alleged violations of the right of freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining in these countries. The mechanism allows the US and Canadian governments to make claims against facilities in Mexico for potential violations of these rights, to the extent that the rights are established by Mexican law. The Mexican government may also file a claim for potential violations to these labor rights in the US or Canada, but only if the facility involved is under an enforced order of the National Labor Relations Board or the Canada Industrial Relations Board, respectively. This mechanism cannot be invoked for disputes of this nature between the US and Canada.Continue Reading USMCA Labor Provisions Have Potential Commercial Impact

This week, the National Labor Relations Board finally came to its senses and adopted the contract coverage test for cases alleging an employer had unlawfully, unilaterally changed employees’ terms and conditions of employment. MV Transportation, Inc. 368 NLRB No. 66 (2019). This week’s decision is likely to change the forum unions select for the enforcement of their labor agreements. Ironically, the decision may compel employers to consider additional bargaining rather than litigation before an arbitrator given there is little opportunity to appeal an adverse arbitration award.
Continue Reading The NLRB Acknowledges The Inevitable And Adopts The Contract Coverage Test