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labour | workers’ rights

Mexico-Guatemala: The other border
14-Nov-2007 Upside Down World
The loss of jobs in the agricultural industries, along with increases in the cost of living with fewer employment opportunities under CAFTA are speculated to produce economic and social hardships that will result in migration both within and outside Central American nations. Most of this migration will be directed towards Mexico and the US.
Filipino workers in Japanese firms oppose JPEPA
10-Nov-2007 Bulatlat
Filipino workers in Japanese firms based in Southern Tagalog oppose the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). They shared their stories of struggle against what they deem as “greed for profit of Japanese investors at the expense of labor.”
Labor urges no vote on Colombia trade deal in ’08
9-Nov-2007 Reuters
Congress should wait at least one year before voting on a free trade agreement with Colombia because of continuing violence in that country against trade unionists, the largest US labor group said on Friday.
Workers union in Peru rejects free trade agreement with the US
9-Nov-2007 Living in Peru
One of Peru’s strongest workers unions, the General Workers Confederation of Peru (CGTP) announced today that it did not agree with the approval of the US-Peru free-trade pact passed by the US House of Representatives today.
New research: Win-win from "free trade" is a big lie
31-Oct-2007 AlterNet
Neoliberal "trade" deals depress wages for 70 percent of workers.
Costa Ricans to strike against FTA
27-Oct-2007 Prensa Latina
Trade unions from the Costa Rican Electricity Institute announced a strike against the complementary agenda of CAFTA, so that the company continues to govern in the fields of electricity and telecommunications.
Canada-Korea FTA would destroy jobs in all provinces and regions
24-Oct-2007 CAW
If the Canadian federal government proceeds with a free trade agreement with Korea as promised, the impact on Canadian communities would be disastrous, according to a new study released by the CAW on October 23.
Canada-South-Korea free trade deal would cost thousands of jobs, says union study
24-Oct-2007 Canada Press
The Canadian Auto Workers has called on the three opposition parties in Ottawa to vote down any Canada-Korea free trade agreement in order to save Canadian jobs. CAW’s internal analysis predicts the trade deal would cost over 33,000 jobs.
Guatemala union heads killed despite US trade deal
18-Oct-2007 Reuters
Masked gunmen dumped a Guatemalan banana picker’s bullet-ridden corpse yards from fields of fruit bound for the United States, a grim reminder of the risks of organizing labor in the Central American country.
Teamsters challenge Bush on free trade arguments: Hoffa responds to Bush
12-Oct-2007 PR Newswire
"When President Bush says the economy benefits from trade deals, he must mean the part of the economy he cares about — the top one percent," Teamsters President Jim Hoffa said. "It’s not competition we’re afraid of, but the global capitalists who rig the system against the American worker."
Uruguay union staves off US pillage
9-Oct-2007 Prensa Latina
Feet firmly planted, Juan Castillo, coordinator of Uruguay’s PIT-CNT central union plugged his nose at the visit of US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez here Monday.
New FTAs could worsen Canadian auto deficit: CAW
9-Oct-2007 CTV
"A free trade deal with Korea will take a bad situation and make it worse...The government should cancel these talks," said Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove.
Militant groups ask senators to scrap RP-Japan accord
8-Oct-2007 Inquirer
The jobs of at least 77,000 as well as tens of thousands of iron and steel workers whose livelihoods depend, directly or indirectly, on the automotive industry are imperiled as the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) threatens to destroy the country’s automotive industry, said Frank Mero, national president of the Philippine Metalworkers’ Alliance and of the Automotive Industry Workers’ Alliance.
Costa Rica: ITUC supports "No" to DR-CAFTA in referendum
8-Oct-2007 Scoop
Despite the overwhelming evidence of workers’ rights being routinely abused, DR-CAFTA offers no solution.
JPEPA makes working in Japan tougher for health workers
5-Oct-2007 Inquirer
Filipino health workers hoping to work in Japan or migrate to that country may find it more difficult if the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) is approved, said a national organization of health professionals.
Ghana: Organised labour worried over EPA
29-Sep-2007 GNA
Mr. Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress, said the leadership of organised labour had discussed the main issues of the EPA negotiations and concluded that the current efforts to negotiate a free and fair trade agreement between the world’s single most powerful economic bloc and weaker economies was impossible.
Calls to scrap ASEAN trade deal over Burma
28-Sep-2007 ABC
The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union says the Federal Government should cease Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) free trade negotiations immediately, in line with Burma sanctions.
Labor groups differ on Peru free trade deal
19-Sep-2007 The Hill
A coalition of US labor groups that split from the AFL-CIO several years ago is urging Congress to oppose the Peru free trade agreement while AFL-CIO will not.
Peru free trade agreement set to move in House after delays
15-Sep-2007 Bloomberg
The long-delayed free trade agreement between the US and Peru is heading for approval in US Congress next month. AFL-CIO, the country’s largest labor federation, testified this week that it won’t support the agreement, but won’t work to defeat it, either.
UNI solidarity mission urges Costa Rica to reject the proposed Free Trade Agreement
24-Aug-2007 UNI Telecom
UNI Telecom Americas President told the Minister of Labour and Deputies from the Costa Rica National Assembly that the country should look to lessons from other free trade agreements, including from his country Mexico, where poverty had not decreased and the minimum wage was in effect lower than before the 43 trade agreements signed by Mexico.