United States and Mexico Announce Course of Remediation at Alimentos Grole Facility

WASHINGTON - The United States and Mexico today announced a course of remediation at the Alimentos Grole, S.A. de C.V. (Alimentos Grole or the company) facility located in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico, which processes pork and chicken products. This announcement marks the twelfth time the United States and Mexico have agreed on a formal course of remediation in a case under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement's (USMCA) Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM).

The course of remediation details a plan to remedy violations of Mexican law at the facility and includes measures aimed at ensuring freedom of association and collective bargaining rights are protected at the facility moving forward.

Under the course of remediation, the Government of Mexico will ensure that Alimentos Grole takes various remedial actions, including to:

• Reinstate twelve unlawfully dismissed workers with full backpay and benefits or pay full severance to the workers, based on their respective preferences;
• Disband the company-aligned internal labor committee and cease and desist from utilizing it or encouraging or supporting the formation of any such committee in the future;
• Develop a facility access protocol that allows the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Industria Alimentaria, Mantenimiento Industrial, Similares y Conexos del Estado de Sonora (SITIES) to exercise its rights and perform its duties;
• Restructure human resources and labor relations management, and take appropriate disciplinary action against staff who violated workers' freedom of association and collective bargaining rights;
• Implement and train all company personnel on its neutrality statement and guidelines related to freedom of association and collective bargaining, including a zero-tolerance policy for violations, and commit to retraining as needed;
• Inform workers about the denial of rights at the facility by conducting meetings and posting notices at the facility to acknowledge Alimentos Grole's unlawful and interfering practices and affirm the company's intention to respect workers' rights in the future;
• Install and publicize a complaint mechanism through which workers can report violations of their rights and breaches of company policies anonymously and confidentially; and
• Maintain on the company website and in any internal communications platform the neutrality statement and guidelines, collective bargaining agreement, training materials, and information about complaint mechanisms maintained by the company and Government of Mexico, such that the information is easily accessible to workers.

Under the course of remediation, the Government of Mexico will, among other actions:

• Monitor the facility with regard to the obligations of the course of remediation and compliance with Mexican laws related to freedom of association and collective bargaining;
• Conduct in-person training that is structured to ensure all workers understand their right to freedom of association and collective bargaining and how to exercise it, including by informing workers of the denial of rights at the facility and educating workers on the conciliation process available to any dismissed worker;
• Conduct separate workers' rights training for supervisors, human resources and labor relations personnel, and other high-level and "trusted" officials; and
• Maintain a direct email address, reporting platform, and telephone line for workers to anonymously report any potential acts of unlawful interference or other violations of freedom of association and collective bargaining rights, and timely investigate any allegations.

The United States and Mexico agreed to establish a deadline of March 31, 2026 to complete the course of remediation.

Background

The United States Trade Representative and the Secretary of Labor co-chair the Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement (ILC). On July 29, 2025, the ILC received an RRM petition from a group of former and current Alimentos Grole workers affiliated with SITIES, a Mexican labor union. The petition alleged that Alimentos Grole had violated workers' rights by threatening and dismissing workers to discourage union activity and by forming and promoting a company-aligned internal union. The ILC reviews RRM petitions that it receives, and the accompanying information, within 30 days. The ILC determined that there was sufficient, credible evidence of a denial of rights enabling the good faith invocation of enforcement mechanisms.

As a result, on August 28, 2025, the United States submitted a request that Mexico review the matter. Mexico agreed to conduct a review and, on October 10, 2025, concluded a denial of the rights had occurred at the facility. Subsequently, the United States and Mexico agreed on a course of remediation.

Read the full course of remediation here.

Read an unofficial courtesy Spanish translation of the full course of remediation here.

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