Labor Ministers of the Commission for Labor Cooperation Hold Annual Meeting

Dallas, Texas, October 21st. - The Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare of Mexico, the Honorable Mariano Palacios Alcocer, the Minister of Labour of Canada, the Honorable Claudette Bradshaw, and the Secretary of Labor of the United States, the Honorable Alexis M. Herman, met in Manzanillo, Mexico for the Sixth Annual Meeting of the Ministerial Council of the North American Commission for Labor Cooperation. This was the second annual meeting in Mexico since the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were signed.

Ministers unanimously appointed Dr. Alfonso Oñate Laborde of Mexico as the next Executive Director of the Secretariat of the Commission for Labor Cooperation, effective January 2000, for a period of three years. Dr. Oñate replaces Mr. John McKennirey of Canada, the founding Executive Director of the Secretariat, to whom the Ministers extended their sincere thanks for his outstanding contribution.

The Ministers decided to relocate the Secretariat to the Washington, D.C. area. The move to new headquarters will take place early in the year 2000.

The Ministers received the report of the Executive Director and approved the Secretariat budget for 1999-2000. The Ministers commented on the progress of their cooperative activities, and made special reference to the rights of working women. Various measures were approved and implemented in response to this issue. They include a conference in Mérida, Mexico, in March of this year, and the recent Seminars organized by the United States in McAllen, Texas, and by Mexico in Reynosa, Tamaulipas.

The 1998 Annual Report of the Commission for Labor Cooperation was released on October 15, 1999.