The United Steelworkers union is using the Canada United States Mexico Agreement to file a complaint against Vancouver-headquartered Orla Mining Ltd. over its alleged treatment of Mexican miners who have recently unionized.
The USW, in partnership with the Los Mineros union, have filed a complaint under CUSMA, via the Rapid Response Labour Mechanism, calling for an investigation into “continuous and systematic denial of the workers’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining.” The USW says that workers at Camino Rojo reported “being intimidated with violence, threats of dismissal and eventually death threats due to their membership in Los Mineros. In the most recent escalation, armed gunmen broke into the home of Jaime Pulido Leon, a local union leader at the mine.
In an emailed response to the allegations, Andrew Bradbury, vice-president of investor relations and corporate development for Orla Mining, said the company plans to fully co-operate with any investigation that might result from the USW’s application, and respects the rights of workers to chose which union they want to belong to.