Decades of Change: The Impact of 25 Years Supporting Mexican Workers Organizing Under USMCA

Over the last 25 years, particularly since the enactment of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the establishment of its Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRLM) in 2020, the Solidarity Center and its programs have supported the strengthening of independent and democratic unions in Mexico. Solidarity Center is a leading U.S.-based independent nonprofit that works internationally with unions and worker associations to advance democracy, workers’ rights, economic security, and job safety and health.

Until 2025, The Solidarity Center partnered with unions in Mexico across various sectors, including automotive, auto parts, aerospace, mining, logistics, service, and export manufacturing. Its program in Mexico has provided technical support to union partners for labor organizing, collective bargaining, advocacy, and communications. 

To build broad support for its RRLM cases, the Solidarity Center linked its Mexican union counterparts with American unions, including the United Steelworkers (USW), the United Auto Workers (UAW), and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW). which cosponsored cases submitted by Mexican unions under the USMCA’s RRLM and provided legal and technical support to their counterparts in Mexico. 

Success Stories

Groundbreaking 15% Wage Increase

Los Mineros represent more than three million mine workers in Mexico. In 2022, the Solidarity Center assisted the union in successfully utilizing the RRLM to achieve union representation and negotiate a strong collective bargaining agreement, resulting in a 15% wage increase.

“Thanks to technical assistance provided by the Solidarity Center funded by DOL/ILAB [Bureau of International Labor Affairs], we were able to use the Rapid Response Mechanism—a tool that helped us achieve justice,” says Imelda Guadalupe Jiménez Méndez, Los Mineros, Secretary of Political Affairs. “Today, our contract is 60% more beneficial to the workers thanks to authentic collective bargaining.”

Mexican Unions Negotiate an Average 11% Wage Increase

With international support from the Solidarity Center, Mexican unions achieved an average wage increase of 11% in 2024, nearly twice the inflation rate.

Labor Movement Gains Traction

More than 30,000 Mexican workershave joined the independent labor movement in the last two years, fighting to increase wages and improve working conditions.

Worker Education Program on Worker Rights

The Solidarity Center developed a worker education program to assist Mexican workers in understanding and exercising their rights under the country’s 2019 labor reforms. Through this training, unions and workers are now better equipped to organize, bargain, and seek enforcement of those rights through the USMCA’s RRLM.

About the Solidarity Center in Mexico

The organization has programs in 60 countries and partners with over 900 organizations and grassroots groups to equip workers with the tools they need to come together to form unions, negotiate, and build a better future. In Mexico, since the country’s labor reform process began, the Solidarity Center has been working on the ground alongside Mexican unions, advising, training, and supporting workers as they build democratic, independent organizations. 

The Solidarity Center trained 40 new union organizers through its Union School, provided research and bargaining support during contract negotiations, and helped establish a new infrastructure to strengthen the labor movement. This includes three university-based Labor Centers that offer legal support, worker-focused research, and training; Organizing Hubs where unions collaborate and share resources; and a network of young labor lawyers trained to use Mexico’s new legal mechanisms to defend freedom of association and collective bargaining rights.