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labour | workers’ rights

It’s time to learn if the new Nafta’s worker protections have any teeth
3-Jun-2021 Quartz
Nafta did not improve the lot of most Mexican workers. But like many agreements that reduce tariffs and other obstacles to trade, Nafta was intended to boost the rights of workers in Mexico.
US, Canada, Mexico hold ’robust’ trade deal talks, downplay differences
19-May-2021 Reuters
Trade ministers held "robust" talks on the new North American trade deal and pledged to fully enforce its higher standards, while downplaying differences over a range of other irritants.
Unions want major Asia trade deal scrapped
14-May-2021 https://www.thecourier.com.au/story...
Unions have blasted Australia’s plan to sign a massive free trade deal with Asia-Pacific nations over the inclusion of military junta-controlled Myanmar.
US files first trade complaint with Mexico under USMCA
14-May-2021 AP
The USMCA allows a panel to determine whether Mexico is enforcing labor laws that allow workers to choose their union and vote on contracts and union leadership.
US unions lodge first Mexico labor grievance under new NAFTA
10-May-2021 Reuters
The AFL-CIO, the biggest US labor federation, will file the first petition for the US government to bring a labor complaint against Mexico under the USMCA trade deal.
Can trade work for workers?
20-Apr-2021 Foreign Affairs
Helping left-behind regions should be a core goal of Biden’s administration. The damage has been done, and free trade isn’t going anywhere.
ACTU condemns Morrison Government for pressing ahead with new trade agreement with military regime in Myanmar
11-Apr-2021 Mirage News
The ACTU has condemned the Federal Government at an inquiry hearing into Myanmar today for pressing ahead with ratifying the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement which includes trade with Myanmar.
First labor rights claim under the revised NAFTA filed by migrant worker women in the US — what does it mean in terms of the new labor rulebook in the region?
7-Apr-2021 Public Citizen
The complaint represents many organizations’ intentions to test if the revised NAFTA’s labor terms could be an effective tool to improve workers’ conditions.
FTA labour rights provisions useless without trade union action, says Korean unionist
29-Mar-2021 bilaterals.org
Interview with Ryu Mikyung who is the International Director at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.
Women file complaint over gender discrimination in US temporary work programs
26-Mar-2021 Fronteras
A group of Mexican migrant worker women have used the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to launch a complaint over discrimination in temporary labor programs.
China-EU comprehensive agreement on investment: Ineffective in protecting labour rights and acting on environmental justice
15-Mar-2021 Globalization Monitor
Without thinking about environmental action beyond emissions and enacting binding agreements on protecting workers’ rights, China and the EU fail at making meaningful change for both labour and environmental justice.
Two steps forward, one step back for Vietnam’s labor rights
22-Feb-2021 DW
Several EU statements still refer to EVFTA as helping to create "trade unions" in Vietnam, but WROs are different in many ways. They are only allowed to collectively bargain and organize strikes at the individual enterprise level, meaning they are restricted to individual companies.
CPTPP: More freedom for capitalists, more exploitation for workers
22-Feb-2021 Counter Fire
Behind the rhetoric of ‘liberalisation’, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is nothing more than vehicle for exploitation and global inequality.
China’s labour rights issues a threat to its trade deal with EU
16-Feb-2021 Hindustan Times
In the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment is expected to face intense resistance from some European lawmakers, while international unionists, who say the pact will do nothing to stop human rights abuses or protect labour rights in China, have vowed to ramp up pressure over the deal.
Could Biden make US-China trade better for workers?
15-Feb-2021 The Diplomat
If decoupling is not in the cards, the United States must find a way to ensure trade improves the lives of workers – on both sides of the Pacific.
China-backed RCEP trade deal unlikely to benefit developing members in short term, analysts say
12-Feb-2021 South China Morning Post
The Regional Cooperation Economic Partnership (RCEP) is unlikely to bring immediate significant benefits for its developing member countries in terms of flow of goods and services or major infrastructure investments, analysts and economists said.
How the trade deal Boris Johnson is pursuing threatens workers’ rights
2-Feb-2021 Left Foot Forward
The danger is that the UK Prime Minister is eager to get a deal, so he could accept whatever terms the CPTPP countries demand.
Biden to focus on trade enforcement after years of Trump tariffs
1-Feb-2021 Bloomberg
President Joe Biden’s administration is setting up its trade policy to prioritize enforcement of existing commitments by the US’s partners over negotiating more deals to open new export markets.
British and Turkish unions want to suspend fledgling trade deal over labor concerns
29-Jan-2021 Politico
UK government urged to use deal to demand Turkey ‘recognizes and respects’ labor standards.
EU-China investment deal lacks teeth on forced labor but could still be derailed
20-Jan-2021 Taiwan News
Potential gains not worth cost of overlooking ’blatant human rights violations’ in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Tibet, and against Taiwan’: French senator