ISDS Case Map
labour | workers' rights
Gathering with fellow unionists in Washington, D.C., Jose Hugo Yanini speaks firmly about labor rights in Colombia. But a few weeks ago, the industrial janitor and shop steward feared that he soon might never utter another word.
Disagreement on the issue of workers' union in EPZs is standing in the way of Bangladesh signing the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) with the US, according to the commerce minister.
While the loudest shouting is about unionists and the union movement in Colombia, it appears at times to mask an altogether different debate: whether trade pacts are good or bad for jobs in the US.
For over a decade, the labor movement and development advocates have called for fair-trade policy that is part of a more coordinated and coherent national economic strategy. Unfortunately, the Korean, Colombian and Panamanian free-trade deals before Congress do not address the fundamental policy failures of the North American Free Trade Agreement and China's inclusion into "favored nation status," which has led to catastrophic job loss in the U.S. and the explosion of our import/export deficit, now reaching $500 billion annually.
Inking free trade deals with South Korea, Panama and Colombia is among the highest priorities for the U.S. business community.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has called on Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht to ensure that the free trade agreement currently negotiated with Canada strengthens workers’ rights. In a letter dated 4 July and sent to De Gucht, Bernadette Ségol, ETUC’s general secretary, asked the EU to adjust its negotiating position in order to include in the final agreement a “strong” dispute settlement mechanism, with the possibility of fines being imposed for breaches of international obligations on labour standards.
The India-EU free trade agreement is yet to see daylight. Labour and environmental issues may derail it, writes Biswajit Dhar
Press conference against the US-Colombia FTA, Washington DC, 16 June 2011
Bahrain has hired a US law firm to tackle a complaint filed by the US's largest trade union, threatening the kingdom's bilateral trade agreement with the world's largest economy.
Vale Coal Colombia has been violating the Labor Action Plan between the United States and Colombia, a requisite of the pending free trade agreement, through threats and reprisals against unionists in the northern department of Cesar, according to U.S. trade union United Steelworkers (USW).
