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labour | workers’ rights

Indonesia, Australia to roll out worker exchange program
17-Jul-2020 Jakarta Post
Indonesia will conduct a worker-exchange program with Australia to boost its human resources. The plan was announced by a senior government official just days after the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) entered into force.
Will the new NAFTA make the pandemic worse for Mexicans?
13-Jul-2020 Foreign Policy in Focus
For Mexican workers, farmers, and the poor, the pandemic and the new treaty replacing NAFTA are a devastating one-two punch.
New NAFTA takes effect next month. US is already threatening legal challenges
19-Jun-2020 CBC
The new North American trade agreement isn’t even in effect yet and the Trump administration is warning Canada and Mexico they might face legal actions under the pact.
RCEP will undermine fight against COVID19 pandemic
18-Jun-2020 APWLD
The 15 governments must consider the adverse impact of the mega FTA and put an end to trade agreements such as RCEP as they only increase protection and power of multinational corporations.
Collectively to reject the RCEP negotiations in the middle of a pandemic
15-Jun-2020 Hukum Online
Amid the pandemic Covid-19 outbreak with the protocol health of all States, the trade negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is still ongoing. The Government should use the momentum of the pandemic to assess thorough draft related agreements RCEP.
Like NAFTA, successor trade deal lacks US worker protections
2-Jun-2020 Noozhawk
NAFTA and other trade deals have been a disaster for American workers. Unregulated global trade consequences have led to worldwide criminal-level labor exploitation.
e-Commerce free trade agreements, digital chapters and the impact on labour
4-May-2020 ITUC
A comparative analysis of treaty texts and their potential practical implications.
Mexico says auto factories to reopen with virus safeguards
27-Apr-2020 New York Times
The announcement came three days after the US government launched a campaign to get Mexico to reopen plants, suggesting the supply chain of the North American free trade zone could be permanently affected.
Thailand loses US free trade benefits worth billions of baht
27-Apr-2020 The Thaiger
Thailand loses duty free access for 42.2 billion baht in exports to the US market from today, unless the kingdom committed to labour rights reforms.
Mexico eyes agreement to end virus-induced disruptions to US-Mexico supply chains
24-Apr-2020 Reuters
Lopez Obrador said the government was reviewing the matter in the context of the entry into force of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a trade deal due to replace the 1994 NAFTA.
US pressures Mexico to reopen plants amid worker walkouts
22-Apr-2020 AP
The US pressed Mexico to reopen border assembly plants that are key to the US supply chain, as part of the North American free trade zone.
US factories in Mexico are still open. As the coronavirus spreads, workers are dying
21-Apr-2020 Los Angeles Times
Maquiladoras which avoid most tariffs because their finished products are for export only, have boomed since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.
Any UK/US trade deal must put jobs and rights first
16-Mar-2020 Left Foot Forward
The UK Trade Union Congress and its US counterpart, the AFL-CIO, have warned the White House and Downing Street that any trade deal between the UK and USA must put workers’ jobs and rights first.
PACER-Plus labour mobility analysis: Unbound promises and an annual meeting
26-Feb-2020 PANG
PACER-Plus itself achieved little by way of actual improvements for Pacific Islander workers to access the labour markets of Australia and New Zealand.
The EU-Indonesia FTA sustainable impact assessment report and why it is so hard to find
12-Feb-2020 bilaterals.org
The sustainable impact assessment report of the free trade agreement between the European Union and Indonesia is not easy to find. Yet some of its findings are quite worrying.
Vietnam looks to burnish human rights image before EU trade vote
11-Feb-2020 South China Morning Post
The European Commission, which is responsible for negotiating the EU’s free trade deals, recognises Vietnam’s human rights record as a cause for concern. It stresses, however, that the deal will provide a platform to address such issues.
US-UK trade deal needs labor, climate protections, enforcement: US lawmaker
3-Feb-2020 Reuters
A future US-UK trade agreement must incorporate strong provisions on worker rights, environmental protection, US House Ways and Means Committee Chairman said.
The EU’s toothless trade policy
27-Jan-2020 IPS
The EU Commission fails to enforce trade agreements’ social and environmental norms. Just look at the case of South Korea.
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership spells danger for 1.1 billion women
7-Jan-2020 John Menadue
Australia has yet to show any serious interest in recognising the potential negative impacts of trade policies on gender or take steps to systematically assess these. A gender equitable trade policy is possible. But it would look nothing like the RCEP.
First blow for post-Brexit Britain as Australia rejects trade deal
7-Jan-2020 The London Economic
Australia turned down the UK’s appeal for freedom of movement between the two countries.