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labour | workers’ rights

HK unionist warns against ECFA
4-Apr-2009
A trade unionist from Hong Kong said in Taipei yesterday that closer economic relations with China would not necessarily boost Taiwan’s economy.
NUPGE asks Ignatieff to block Colombia trade deal
31-Mar-2009
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is appealing to the federal Liberal Party to join with other opposition parties to block the new Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.
US lawmaker details obstacles to free trade deals
12-Mar-2009 Reuters
Panama, Colombia and South Korea need to resolve a number of outstanding concerns before Congress will approve free trade pacts with each of those countries, a US lawmaker said on Wednesday.
Premier pledges no Chinese workers under trade pact
7-Mar-2009 Radio Taiwan International
In response to fierce criticism over a trade pact the government may sign with China, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan has pledged that Taiwan’s sovereignty will not be affected by such a deal and that no Chinese workers will be introduced to Taiwan.
Free trade deal should exclude shipbuilding, Stoffer says
3-Mar-2009
Peter Stoffer hopes to turn the tide on a controversial free trade agreement that could sink shipbuilding in Canada.
Trade unions set terms for EPA talks
3-Mar-2009
The East Africa Trade Union Congress (EATUC) has joined groups that want the deadline for the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) between the East Africa Community and the European Commission extended.
Sustaining global solidarity after Gaza
2-Mar-2009 Palestine Chronicle
In South America, serious pressure is building against the Israel-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement (FTA), threatening to derail it entirely. South American social movements, who have years of experience fighting against free trade, have integrated Palestine solidarity into their general work.
Canada-Colombia free trade agreement condemned
26-Feb-2009 NUPGE
Colombia’s national labour federations and major unions have condemned the free trade agreement (FTA) signed by the governments of Canada and Colombia last year.
Free trade, jobs and democracy — a look at Singapore
18-Feb-2009 PWW
Given the evaporation of 533,000 American jobs last November, the largest downturn in thirty-four years and the prospects for even greater losses, it is vital that we have a public discourse on the cost of free trade and its twin — runaway corporations.
Union killings loom over U.S.-Colombia trade pact
14-Feb-2009
Guillermo Rivera Fuquene’s widow says her husband was kidnapped, tortured and killed just because he fought for the rights of Colombian workers and opposed President Alvaro Uribe’s free-market policies.
RP-EU pact contains migration provisions
10-Feb-2009 Inquirer
The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the Philippines and the European Union will contain provisions on migration and corruption.
Swiss say big yes to EU labour
8-Feb-2009 AFP
The Swiss shook off right-wing fears over job losses on Sunday, voting resoundingly to prolong an EU free labour agreement and extending the policy to workers from bloc newcomers Bulgaria and Romania.
No such thing as free trade
5-Feb-2009 Vue Weekly
When Canadian Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day signed the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Peru on November 21, it was a happy day for Canada’s oil and gas sector, but the deal was celebrated instead as a landmark for human rights and democracy in Colombia.
Bush deals last-minute insults to workers’ rights
29-Jan-2009 AFL-CIO
In Bush’s final hours in office, he implemented a trade agreement with Peru despite calls by Congress, unions, environmental and human rights groups to delay action to ensure that Peru’s laws meet its commitments before the agreement enters into force. At the same time, the Bush Labor Department’s Office of Trade & Labor Affairs rejected a petition, the first of its kind, under the labor provisions of the Central America Free Trade Act (CAFTA).
Ramming the matter home: Peru-US FTA rushed, diluted and finagled
29-Jan-2009 COHA
Two weeks ago, as the Peruvian Congress buoyantly rushed to amend labor, health, and environmental requirements in order to implement the long pending bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US, former President George W. Bush and Peruvian President Alan García could not afford any further delays. As Barack Obama moved into the White House, it was clear that the Bush and García Administrations’ priority was to declare the FTA in effect regardless of what had been previously negotiated and amended in the halls of the Peruvian Congress.
JPEPA takes effect Thursday
10-Dec-2008
The controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) takes effect Thursday, December 11, with simple ceremonies in Tokyo, Philippine labor attaché to Japan Danilo Cruz said Wednesday.
Canada Colombia Free Trade Agreement should be rejected
9-Dec-2008 rabble.ca
The Harper government pretends that the Colombian Free Trade agreement will advance the human rights agenda in Colombia. But essentially, here is what would happen: in case of abuse, a small fine would be levied by the Canadian government which the Colombian government would then pay to itself.
Europe: What trade can have to do with trade unions
8-Dec-2008 IPS
The European Union has decided to push ahead with plans to secure a free trade agreement with Colombia despite the widespread abuse of labour rights in that country.
Indonesian chefs, teachers ready to fill New Zealand market
29-Nov-2008
Local skilled workers will have a chance next year to try their luck in New Zealand, which has agreed to open up to Indonesian workers as part of a free trade agreement (FTA).
Canada’s deal with Colombia ignores human rights abuses
28-Nov-2008
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) has joined with other labour and human rights organizations in condemning the Harper government’s approval of a free-trade deal with Colombia. The union is urging MPs in Ottawa to reject the tentative deal.