Gabriel Tamariz, head of Labour Policy and Institutional Relations, said the mechanism is also being used to promote unions, “some founded and financed in dollars,” that don't even have representation in companies.

This article by Alexia Villaseñor and Jared Laureles originally appeared in the March 10, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Mexico City. The Secretariat of Labour and Social Welfare (STPS) warned of the “direct and open” interference of “a foreign government” in union affairs in Mexico, through the Labor Rapid Response Mechanism (LRRM) of the USMCA.

Gabriel Tamariz, head of the Labour Policy and Institutional Relations Unit at the agency, pointed out that this instrument is also being used to promote unions, “some founded and financed in dollars,” that don’t even have representation in companies. “The Mechanism should not be used for union proselytizing,” he emphasized.

While participating in the panel Transformations in Labour Law: Trends of Change & Strategies, the official considered, without mentioning the United States, that “a new type of government interference” is emerging in labour matters.

“Something that I find worrying is that, both the workers’ and employers’ sectors, we have been fighting against this employer interference in union matters and government interference in union matters. We know the history of corporatism well and have been trying to reduce it, but it seems that a new type of interference is emerging, which is the interference of a foreign government in union matters.”

“And I’m not referring to the letter of the treaty and Annex 31 (of the USMCA); Chapter 23 and Annex 31 are fine, but in practice, it’s a direct and open interference,” he said.

Tamariz also emphasized that not “a single comma” should be modified in the labour chapter if the “asymmetries” of the MLRR are not eliminated beforehand, since its application should not only be limited to Mexico, but also to the United States, in order to also seek the defense of the labour rights of our fellow citizens.

“It is absolutely essential to end the asymmetry of the Rapid Response Labour Mechanism. According to the treaty, the mechanism’s operation should not be limited to Mexican territory; it is very interesting because everyone who commented on labour issues in the consultations we held, as well as in the consultations with the United States, agreed that the asymmetry must end,” he stated.

Regarding the visit of labour attachés from the United States Embassy in Mexico to workplaces in the country to gather evidence of possible labour rights violations, the STPS official also suggested analyzing the regulation of existing legal instruments to ensure that this personnel from the neighboring country and Canada “do not overstep their bounds.”

In this regard, the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs for North America, Roberto Velasco, opined that labor attachés do not have the capacity to carry out inspections and stressed that their functions were “precisely defined”.

“No U.S. diplomatic envoy can override the powers of the Vienna Convention and therefore cannot perform inspection functions in our country, as stated by the Mexican Foreign Ministry. This has been taken as a principle in the accreditation granted to labour attachés,” he reiterated.

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