University of California

May 28, 1998 News Report -- Associated Press 

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexican and U.S. labor unions are seeking to use the North American Free Trade Agreement to improve conditions for migrant apple pickers in the state of Washington.

The unions said they were filing a complaint with a NAFTA office in Mexico charging that the Washington state and U.S. governments and the apple industry have failed to provide health and safety protections to the thousands of Mexican migrant workers in Washington.

The International Labor Rights Fund, a Washington-based group that has worked with the Mexican unions, said the complaint had been filed Wednesday. An official with the Mexican administrative office of the North American Agreement for Labor Cooperation, said today it has not received the papers.

Under a labor side agreement to NAFTA, which created a trade bloc comprising the United States, Mexico and Canada, the complaint could eventually be brought before an arbitration panel with power to impose sanctions against the U.S. government and the industry.

Since NAFTA took affect in January 1994, 11 complaints have been brought under this side agreement. Most were filed by American unions charging that Mexico has failed to enforce its labor laws.

The complaint was being filed by four Mexican unions with the support of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the United Farmworkers of America.