THE United States trade authorities said on Tuesday they have filed a labour complaint with Mexico over allegations that a Volkswagen auto plant in central Mexico unfairly sacked union activists.

The US Trade Representative’s office said on Tuesday the complaint includes the temporary suspension of tariff benefits for vehicles and parts produced at the VW plant in Puebla, just east of Mexico City.

The complaint was the 23rd filed for alleged labour abuses in Mexico under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

The trade pact established rapid-resolution mechanisms to guarantee unions the right to organise in Mexico.

Under the deal Mexico must investigate the claims and either get the company to correct them, or explain why it won’t take action. 

For decades, wages in Mexico have been held very low because unions were not allowed to organise freely.

The complaint asked Mexico to investigate whether management fired or took reprisals against workers “based on their service as union representatives, affiliation with prior union administrations, candidacy in union elections, or engagement in other union activities.”

In January, Mexico refused to act in the case of a call centre that allegedly threatened or fired union organisers.