Thank you, Angelo. Thank you to the chair and members of the committee for having me speak today.
I have travelled to Canada many times, but it is very cold, especially in winter, so I appreciate you allowing me to communicate from Mexico City, where it is much warmer. Spring came early for us.
I have spent much of my life working with the independent trade union movement here in Mexico. I have seen the damage caused by a system of undemocratic trade unionism and fake collective bargaining. In Mexico, under NAFTA, real wages have fallen over 25 years, despite major advances in productivity and trade.
I share the concern raised by Unifor. There is a lot in the new CUSMA that reflects the old NAFTA, an agreement that aimed to exploit my country for its low-wage workers and its natural resources, and reproducing inequalities between the countries and inside the countries. Mexico's relationship to North America is as a low-cost supplier of goods and services. That keeps more than 50% of Mexicans living in poverty. While Mexicans suffer, Canadian workers suffer too, with job losses and threats of low wages.
In NAFTA, workers do not win. I will say, like Angelo, that there are important advances in the new CUSMA on labour rights. This is perhaps its positive aspect. The new agreement has already had an immediate consequence on promoting long-overdue labour reforms in my country. This includes provisions to ensure democratic participation in trade union organizing and collective bargaining.
In Mexico, many workplaces are controlled by so-called “protection contracts”, which are collective agreements established by employers and supported by unelected unions. In Mexico, these powerful, unelected union officials are installed as worker representatives on tripartite committees, like arbitration boards, guaranteeing that workers have no voice.
The new rapid response mechanism for monitoring compliance is stronger than any measure we have seen before, and we hope it will allow us to better challenge this system of corruption that breeds unfair trade. However, these enforcement tools should not be used only as a weapon to attack Mexico. Instead, they should apply fully to all parties of CUSMA, including Canada.
In Mexico, the main problem we face has not been our national laws or ratification of international agreements. Having strong laws designed to protect workers and preserve human rights means nothing if states or corporations simply ignore them. The new CUSMA enforcement measures include significant penalties for corporations that break the rules. That is encouraging. That is something we have not seen before, but sometimes U.S.- and Canadian-based companies are the ones that ignore their obligations to labour and human rights, and that must stop as well.
To be truly effective, the labour provisions in CUSMA must be used as a tool to attack corporate injustice and social inequality, not simply to attack Mexico.
I was very pleased to come and meet with Canada's chief negotiator and other officials during the negotiation process. If you can believe it, we had an easier time arranging meetings with Canadian officials than with our own trade officials here in Mexico. I want to thank those who spoke to us, and who heard our concerns, for their openness.
Thank you again for allowing me to speak. I would be happy to answer any questions.
Thank you very much.