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labour | workers’ rights

UAE/US free trade discussions limp on
12-Feb-2007 Arabian Business
Stop-start free trade talks between the UAE and the United States are making progress, according to the UAE Ministry of Finance and Industry. The Ministry did not comment on reports that the UAE’s record on human rights and the banning of labour unions are obstacles.
US and Korean labor unite to protest trade agreement
12-Feb-2007 PR Newswire
Leaders of labor federations in the United States and Korea today joined forces to protest the ongoing negotiations for the US-Korea Free Trade agreement (KORUS FTA).
Another fast track to the unemployment line?
9-Feb-2007 People’s Weekly World Newspaper
President Bush has asked Congress for approval of "fast track" authority. For most workers, "fast track" is the code word for giving the capitalists the opportunity to move more jobs out of the country.
GPKK demonstrates against FTA outside US Embassy
7-Feb-2007 Bernama
The Coalition of Factory Workers and Trade Unions (GPKK) demonstrated for half-an-hour outside the United States embassy, here Wednesday to protest against the on-going Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiation which it claimed violated the rights of the lower-income group.
UAE weights price of trade pact with US
4-Feb-2007 ANTARA
The United Arab Emirates is mulling whether to make political concessions to the United States in a free trade pact that has eluded both countries for nearly two years.
Malaysian, US unions oppose trade deal
30-Jan-2007 AP
Labor unions in Malaysia and the United States said Monday they opposed a free trade agreement between their two countries unless it incorporated mechanism to protect labor and social rights.
US unions oppose free trade with Malaysia
22-Jan-2007 IPS
Trade unions from the United States have joined forces with their Malaysian counterparts to strongly oppose ongoing negotiations for bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) until workers’ concerns are first addressed.
US will re-negotiate free trade deals
17-Jan-2007 NewsMax.com Wires
The Bush administration said Wednesday it will renegotiate the language covering labor rights in free trade agreements it has reached with Peru, Colombia and Panama, in order to get the deals approved by the new Democratic Congress. The three countries have already been notified.
Labor rights not optional
6-Jan-2007 TomPaine.com
Some 230 years ago, King George III taught the American colonists an important lesson: Because taxation without representation is tyranny, the public must have a voice in the making of trade policy. The new Congress should keep that lesson in mind as it attempts to devise trade strategies to promote labor rights (and other human rights) overseas.
$1 million needed to offset FTA damages: ministry
2-Jan-2007 Hankyoreh
Korea’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy requested a budget of 1 billion won (US$1 million) to the National Assembly on January 1, saying that it needed extra funds to offset the harsher effects of FTAs, estimating 13,000 firms and 100,000 workers would be affected.
Free trade deals to put 100,000 South Koreans out of work: survey
2-Jan-2007 AFP
Free trade agreements with the United States, Japan, China and Southeast Asia would put more than 100,000 South Koreans out of work over the next 10 years, according to a government estimate.
Panama added to roster of US free-trade deals in Latin America
21-Dec-2006 Newsblaze
US Trade Representative (USTR) Susan Schwab, who announced the deal on December 19, said that the agreement is subject to "additional discussions" on labor.
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.
The mass people’s resistance against KorUS FTA has started - KoA
29-Nov-2006 KoA
The Korean government repression that began on November 22nd is continuing to spread like a forest fire. However, the people’s struggle to block the KorUS FTA will not end here.
Bahrain bans strikes a month after allowing them
25-Nov-2006 Reuters
Bahrain has banned strikes and worker demonstrations in most business sectors, a month after labour law reforms banning the sacking of strikers encouraged a wave of trade union activity in the Gulf island state.
S Korean workers protest US trade deal
23-Nov-2006 Washington Post
Tens of thousands of South Korean workers held rallies and labor strikes Wednesday to oppose a free trade agreement with the United States and demand better working conditions.
S Korea labor unions to launch general strike tomorrow to oppose FTA with US
22-Nov-2006 Forbes
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) said that its members will launch a general strike tomorrow to pressure the government to halt free-trade talks with the US.
Japan to accept Indonesian nurses, hotel trainees under economic pact
21-Nov-2006 ANTARA
Japan will accept nurses, care workers and hotel trainees from Indonesia under a bilateral economic partnership agreement in the final stages of talks, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.
Democrats to focus trade policy on US jobs and workers
18-Nov-2006 The Mercury News
The American worker, not Corporate America, will be the central focus of US trade policy as far as the new Democratic majority of Congress is concerned.
S Korean workers demand end to trade talks with US
13-Nov-2006 Reuters
About 15,000 South Korean workers demonstrated in the capital Seoul on Sunday, demanding the government stop free-trade talks with the United States.