NGO accuses PKC of labor violations at Mexico's Acuña wire factory

An NGO has accused Helsinki-based PKC Group (Helsinki: PKC1V) of "serious and clear cut violations" of international labor standards at its Acuña wire factory in Mexico's Coahuila state. US-based Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) said in a report it had found "overwhelming evidence" that the company engaged in actions which prevented workers from "exercising their associational rights to form and join the union of their choice and engage in collective bargaining." Among the allegations are that the company signed a collective employment contract with the CTM union "behind the backs" of workers, creating a "potential obstacle" to workers seeking representation by the rival national mining-metalworkers union, SNTMMSSRM. The report said this violated labor conventions that enable workers to "establish and join an organization of their own choosing." The company also turned down a request by the SNTMMSSRM for recognition as the collective bargaining representative for PKC workers at the plant and provided financial backing for the CTM, WRC said. PKC also used threats and harassment in the run-up to union elections in 2012, the report said, with team leaders instructed to tell workers that the factory would close if the SNTMMSSRM was elected. The company also dismissed about 100 workers which the report claims was in "retaliation" for union activities and were not "routine layoffs." Following the layoffs, 11 of the sacked workers went on hunger strike which endedwhen the company agreed to a recount following last year's union elections. Female workers were also subject to sexual harassment by a supervisor, the report claims. The NGO called on the company to reinstate the sacked workers with back pay, terminate its contract with CTM, hold "fair and transparent" new union elections and take steps to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. In a statement, the SNTMMSSRM union accused the company of "serious violations" of worker rights and echoed the NGO's calls for the 100 sacked workers to be reinstated. No one from PKC was immediately available for comment. In a statementto BNamericas in January, the company defended its union elections last year as "free, fair and transparent," and said it had "fully supported" the process and cooperated with Mexico's labor board.