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Free-trade bondage in Jordan
9-Dec-2006 Middle East Online
The Jordan-United States free-trade agreement was supposed to be a labor-rights model. It has been a disaster — ’globalization’ at its worst.
Group accuses Jordan of failing to enforce labor rights
16-Oct-2006 LA Times
Critics of US trade policy say the recent incidents in Jordan illustrate the dangers of forging trade agreements that don’t adequately protect workers from abuse.
Protecting workers from the effects of FTAs
3-Oct-2006
The benefits of trade liberalisation to consumers and society as a whole have been widely acknowledged, but the hidden costs of liberalisation must also be brought to light if the free-trade regime is to move forward.
US union, business group slam Jordan sweatshops
28-Sep-2006
A leading US labour coalition and an industry group have filed a complaint with the US Trade Representative asking that it formally sanction the government of Jordan for "gross workers’ rights violations" under a controversial free trade agreement with the United States and Israel.
AFL-CIO and National Textile Association file first-ever worker rights case under US-Jordan FTA
24-Sep-2006 AFL-CIO
This is the first time that a business association has formally joined in filing a worker rights case under a trade agreement. The groups called on the Bush Administration to initiate dispute settlement proceedings under the FTA that would halt gross workers’ rights violations occurring in Jordan.
Employment implications of trade liberalization with East Asia
20-Sep-2006 CAW
This study examines the employment impacts of Canada’s existing bilateral trade relationships with East Asia, and the likely employment effects of the proposed Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA).
FTA, KORUS FTA and challenges of the labor movement
31-Aug-2006 KCTU
I am going to provide in this writing laborers’ perspectives towards the KORUS FTA; what lies in its core, why it is so problematic, and what kinds of consequences it will bring about. In addition, although not perfect, I am going to show how the Korean labor movement should respond to the KORUS FTA and deal with its challenges.
Salem outlines measures to protect workers’ rights in QIZs - Jordan
14-Aug-2006 MENAFN
Jordan’s Minister of Labour Bassem Salem on Sunday met with US Ambassador David Hale and delegates of the Office of the US Trade Representative to outline efforts to safeguard workers’ rights in the country’s Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ).
Flower power - But not for the workers
8-Aug-2006 IPS
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Colombia and the United States that could be signed in October or November this year will maintain the tariff exemptions already enjoyed by Colombia’s flourishing flower industry. But there are no plans for higher wages and better working conditions for the industry’s 100,000 workers.
CAFTA bait-and-switch destroys Georgia community
7-Aug-2006 Huffington Post
Remember during the debate over the Central American Free Trade Agreement, every Republican politician and corporate lobbyist was giving the public the "free trade creates American jobs" line? It’s a line that America has become used to hearing from Washington, D.C. — even though, as both Hostile Takeover and Take This Job and Ship It show, this mantra has no relation to reality.
Jordan shutting abusive factories
19-Jun-2006 Washington Times
Jordan’s trade minister yesterday acknowledged that his country had failed to enforce its own labor laws in some instances. Mr. Zu’bi was in Washington to meet with the Bush administration, lawmakers and business groups after a May report by the National Labor Committee said the US-Jordan Free Trade Agreement encouraged sweatshop conditions in Jordanian garment factories.
US-Jordan free trade agreement descends into human trafficking
19-Jun-2006 NLC
Tens of thousands of foreign guest workers are stripped of their passports, trapped in involuntary servitude, sewing clothing for Wal-Mart, Gloria Vanderbilt, Target, Kohl’s, Thalia Sodi for Kmart, Victoria’s Secret, L.L.Bean and others.
FIDH report on the effects on human rights of the NAFTA
18-May-2006 FIDH
The International Federation for Human Rights has published the report of a fact-finding mission on the effects on human rights of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The mission, conducted in Mexico between 22 and 31 of August 2005, looked specifically at the effects of NAFTA, ten years after its entering into force, on employment and working conditions in the Northern part of the country, in particular in the maquilas and in the informal economy.
Workers will suffer from weakened Andean Community
4-May-2006 IPS
Free trade agreements with the United States and Venezuela’s announced withdrawal from the Andean Community trade bloc will have an impact on workers, the ‘Cinderella’ of decades of integration, said trade unionists and experts in the region consulted by IPS.
An ugly side of free trade: Sweatshops in Jordan
3-May-2006 New York Times
Propelled by a free trade agreement with the United States, apparel manufacturing is booming in Jordan, its exports to America soaring twentyfold in the last five years. But some foreign workers in Jordanian factories that produce garments for Target, Wal-Mart and other American retailers are complaining of dismal conditions - of 20-hour days, of not being paid for months and of being hit by supervisors and jailed when they complain.
UAE: Address abuse of migrant workers
31-Mar-2006 HRW
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.
Hunger on the border
19-Feb-2006 ZNet
The labor side agreement of NAFTA hasn’t forced anybody to take responsibility. It’s not an effective guarantee of anyone’s rights.
Free trade agreements and Labour: Much more than a Labour Clause
7-Feb-2006 RECALCA
The FTA signed between Peru and the US has 24 chapters. One of these is a labor chapter that is identical to that found in the US-Colombia FTA and the US-Ecuador. On the subject of including this chapter, it is necessary to analyze the impact of signing this Treaty on labor and employment conditions for Colombians.