Pascrell Responds to Letter from Mexican President López Obrador

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), a member of House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, today reacted to a letter sent by Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador to Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA-01). The letter comes one week after Reps. Neal and Pascrell led a congressional delegation to Mexico City to further trade talks between Mexico and the United States.

“Working men and women have been trampled on under NAFTA,” said Rep. Pascrell. “The brutality has been documented. The rights of free unions have been undermined in Mexico. This perfect storm has resulted in too many United States job losses to Mexico. It is why getting the new NAFTA right means everything. And why all eyes were on Mexico when they passed their new labor reform.

“After decades of labor abuses, Mexico needs dramatic change to respect the rights of organized labor. I appreciate Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s commitment to this goal and keeping his promise to get us more information. But after reading his letter, I worry we are cooking the same soup. These changes are a drop in the bucket to what is needed for objective and honest courts that do not continue the same broken system. The content of the lawsuits pending against the labor reform matters more than the number of lawsuits dismissed. And a few extra inspectors is not enough to properly review all the collective bargaining agreements in a timely manner. That these budget shortfalls occurred when these reforms are under such intense scrutiny is alarming and make me question their continued and sustained labor commitments.

“Many promises were made when the first NAFTA passed. While there are those who want to rush to judgement on NAFTA 2.0, we must be cautious until we see real change in Mexico. We need strong and enduring enforcement and labor standards in the final agreement. Not crumbs, a side letter, or a footnote.”

Earlier this year, Rep. Pascrell led 85 of his colleagues demanding that Mexico must pass meaningful labor reforms before any renegotiated NAFTA agreement could find congressional approval. In January 2018, Pascrell led 183 House Democrats in a letter urging Ambassador Lighthizer to prioritize Mexican labor reforms in NAFTA renegotiations. Pascrell also joined with 94 House Democrats in an April 2018 letter urging opposition to the initial proposal in the Mexican Congress that was anti-worker and in November 2018, Pascrell and former Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI-09) wrote to USTR and Labor Secretary Acosta again in light of anti-worker violence and intimidation reports in Mexico.

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