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“Free trade agreements are, to some extent, an expression of neo-colonialism”
3-Jul-2012 Eurotribune
Interview with Lourdes Castro, chief officer of Grupo SUR and representative of Alop, Aprodev, Cifca and Oidhaco.
Labor action and inaction in Colombia free trade deal
25-Apr-2012 In These Times
As the media swarmed over the scandal surrounding the Secret Service’s alleged carousing with prostitutes in Colombia, another questionable financial transaction slipped quietly through the backdoor of hemispheric diplomacy.
AFL-CIO Joins Honduran Unions in Petitioning US Labor Department
1-Apr-2012
This week the AFL-CIO joined the main Honduran trade unions to file a petition with the United States Department of Labor’s Public Office of Trade & Labor Affairs (OTLA) concerning the failure of the government of Honduras to effectively enforce its labor laws and comply with its commitments under the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).
’Meet the new boss’: The rise of Colombia’s labor co-ops
2-Mar-2012 Global Post
According to labor-rights activists as well as a recent US State department report, many Colombian co-ops function as glorified temp agencies providing companies with cheap and docile non-union workers.
US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement: Labor issues
23-Jan-2012 CRS
This Congressional Research Service (CRS) report examines three labor issues and arguments related to the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, signed on October 21, 2011: violence against trade unionists; impunity (accountability for or punishment of the perpetrators); and worker rights protections for Colombians.
Union says immigrants forced to accept pay below minimum wage
15-Jan-2012
Chinese chefs working here are being asked to accept pay cuts or face losing their jobs, because of hundreds of Chinese chefs entering the country under the free trade agreement with China.