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labour | workers’ rights

Labour pangs likely to hold up India-EU free-trade agreement
8-Nov-2009
The fate of the India-EU trade and investment agreement—which seeks to further open up bilateral markets for goods, investments and services—may hang in balance as India and the EU lock horns over including labour standards in the pact.
Mexico revs up war on workers; Obama shrugs
13-Oct-2009 Huffington Post
Last Saturday night, October 10, several thousand Mexican government agents and police stormed into the headquarters and a hundred substations of the publicly owned electric utility, Luz Y Fuerza.
World’s poor see few job benefits from trade boom
12-Oct-2009 Reuters
The boom in global trade over the last two decades has not improved the quality of most jobs in poorer countries, the World Trade Organisation and United Nations labour agency (ILO) said on Monday.
Murder in Colombia and a US multinational
2-Oct-2009 LA Times
Did officials of Drummond Co, a US coal operation, play a role in the deaths of at least two men in Colombia? US and European labor leaders are watching this case closely and pointing to it as an example of why they object to the United States’ proposed free-trade agreement with Colombia.
Hansonite protest out of left field
22-Sep-2009
Signs of community concern over Chinese influence on Australian living standards are shaping up as a key domestic issue for the Rudd government as it struggles to mend its already strained relations with China.
China deal could cost jobs - union
16-Sep-2009
The Rudd Government is being warned the nation will lose more jobs than it will gain if Australia signs a free trade agreement with China.
Steelworkers call on Liberals to refuse support for Harper’s Colombia trade deal
14-Sep-2009
As Parliament resumes, Ken Neumann, National Director of the United Steelworkers (USW) today called on Michael Ignatieff and the Liberal caucus to refuse to support the Harper government’s free trade agreement with Colombia when the bill is voted in Parliament next week.
Free up capital, labour for regional good: BB boss tells Mumbai meet
10-Sep-2009
Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman called for freer movements of capital and labour among the first steps for greater financial integration of South Asian nations, speaking at a global banking conference in India on Wednesday.
US to get tough on trade, labor infractions: Kirk
16-Jul-2009 Reuters
The US government will get tough with governments that don’t live up to trade deals, including those with substandard labor practices, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk was set to announce on Thursday.
106 members of Congress introduce TRADE Act, promote a better trade model
25-Jun-2009 Mike Michaud
Endorsed by more than a dozen fair trade groups, the TRADE Act would revamp US trade policy.
FTA between Panama and the United States: Re-negotiations imminent?
22-Jun-2009 Panama Star
US congressmen are pressuring Panama to reduce the number of people who can form a union from 40 to 20 and to give foreigners the right to head union organizations in Panama.
Striking a proper match: Strategies to link trade agreements and real labor rights improvements
8-Jun-2009 Atlantic Community
This article makes recommendations for a template for linking trade and labor rights.
Unions to flex muscle with Australia’s Labor govt
28-May-2009 Reuters
Unions will urge Rudd’s Labor government at a national conference next week to end future free trade deals and give local firms a price advantage when bidding for government contracts, Australia’s top union boss Sharan Burrow said.
EU policies deepen jobs crisis
14-May-2009 OneWorld
European free trade policies will continue to drive up job losses in the European Union and worldwide, said a British social justice group following an European Union summit to address the economic crisis’ impact on employment.
Unions urged to make a stand
14-May-2009 The News-Sentinel
The United Steelworkers and other US union activists are touring the Midwest by bus advocating foreign trade and health care reforms and a “buy American” mentality, saying increasing poverty and long lines at food pantries are a result of jobs lost to the Central American Free Trade Agreement, North American Free Trade Agreement and other free trade policies.
Colombia commits "crimes against humanity" as free trade pacts are debated
14-May-2009 Huffington Post
Despite the claims of the Colombian government and those in the U.S., Canada and the EU eager to consummate "free trade" pacts with that regime, the human rights situation in that country is deteriorating fast. Indeed, by key measures — the killing of unionists, extra-judicial killings by the military, and the forced displacement of civilians — Colombia’s human rights situation is amongst the worst in the world and getting worse. In the case of union killings, it remains the very worst.
1st batch of JPEPA nurses off to Japan this week
5-May-2009
The first batch of nurses and caregivers who have been hired under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) are ready to be deployed to Japan this weekend, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said Tuesday.
EU Par wants India FTA to address "child, bonded labour"issues
21-Apr-2009 PTI
"Concerned" over "child and bonded labour" in India, the European Parliament has strongly pressed the European Union to include the issues in the Free Trade Agreement talks with New Delhi, which is stoutly against inclusion of social issues in commercial deals.
Foreign nurse, carer intake slow / Facilities worried about extra burdens when hiring Indonesians
16-Apr-2009 Yomiuri Shimbun
Under a bilateral economic partnership agreement signed by Japan and Indonesia in August 2007, Japan is supposed to accept 1,000 Indonesian nurses and care workers over a two-year period. However, due to a lack of preparation, only about 200 Indonesian nurses and caregivers arrived in Japan in the first year.
Trading away our jobs
13-Apr-2009 WoW
War on Want’s latest report, ’Trading Away Our Jobs: How free trade threatens employment around the world’, investigates the impact of free trade agreements on jobs.