USTR Hails New Contract at GM Plant in Silao, Mexico

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai hailed a new contract between General Motors and the union workers chose in Silao, Mexico, saying it will raise wages. "Because of the ground-breaking labor protections in the USMCA, we’ve seen that workers no longer have to tolerate contracts negotiated behind their backs and have the right to vote on an agreement after it's negotiated," she said in a statement. "The USMCA’s Rapid Response Labor Mechanism helped workers get to this vote, and the United States will continue to work with Mexico to protect worker rights.”

According to the Detroit Free Press, the new independent union and GM agreed to an 8.5% wage increase over a two-year contract, but the wages can be reevaluated in a year. Before the increase, workers at the plant, which builds pickup trucks under the Chevrolet and GMC marks, earned between $9.15 and $33.74 per day. The newspaper noted that plants in Indiana and Ontario, Canada, that make similar trucks pay $18 to $32 an hour.