ISDS Case Map
labour | workers' rights
The Bush administration should include a provision in a proposed free-trade pact with Peru that the South American country meet international labor standards, a group of congressional Democrats said on Friday.
Both Filipino and Japanese workers will lose out under the proposed Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) according to a report by Mr. Takemasa Ando, a researcher from Waseda University in Tokyo.
Amidst rising anti-trade sentiment in Congress, House Republicans and Democrats wrangled over labor rights issues Wednesday demanding that a US free trade deal with the Omani government include stronger provisions to protect workers rights.
Honduran humanitarian bodies predicted Monday that the implementation of the US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) will increase unemployment in agriculture and in small and medium companies.
The governments of the United States, the European Union, and Australia are currently negotiating free trade agreements with the UAE. Human Rights Watch called on these governments to require improvement of UAE's labor practices and legal standards before signing such agreements.
A visiting Japanese researcher accused her own government of extending international aid that runs counter to the interest of the Filipinos. Kayoko's observation came after members of the Philippine House of Representatives petitioned the Supreme Court to stop the government from finalizing an economic agreement with Japan.
According to the general secretary of the National Union of Public Workers, Joseph Goddard, workers in Barbados stand to be affected by the EPA negotiations in terms of government procurement, intellectual property rights, agriculture, the provision of decent work, fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals, adding that there is the possibility of the agreements compromising the country's sovereignty.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) has announced it would stage a general strike in April 3-14 in protest of parliament's passage of a bill that labor thinks unfavorable to irregular workers and the government's "labor road map," followed by walkouts of some industrial unions. KCTU also opposes the Korea-US free trade agreement, while calling for the provision of free medical and educational services.
Negotiations for possible movement of labour from the Pacific to Europe is part of discussions under the proposed Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) currently underway.
Capitol Hill is starting to feel the pangs of trade déjà vu as two pending Latin American free-trade agreements prompt Democrats to demand stronger labor standards and business lobbyists push back.
