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labour | workers’ rights


Property row to test JPEPA
A major labor group on Thursday called on the Japanese government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs, to step into a row between two Japanese groups in the development of a property in Japan owned by the Philippine government.
Our health care workers are not for sale - Junk JPEPA now!
Instead of addressing the longstanding issues of health workers such as inadequate pay, poor working conditions and lack of opportunities in the Philippines, the JPEPA will only give another reason for the government to push with its labor export policy as a measure to boost the economy through strong remittance flows.
Why they migrate
In 2002 alone, 600 Mexican farmers per day were forced off the land due to NAFTA, by US agribusiness dumping subsidized food exports on Mexico. And in the past five years, more than 1,600 Mexican migrants have lost their lives in their attempts to find jobs in the US.
Canadian and Colombian labour jointly reject trade talks
In a joint statement, the largest labour federations in Canada and Colombia reject the announced trade negotiations between Canada, Colombia and Peru as “an extreme free-market trade and investment model which guarantees the rights of investors over the human, social, economic, cultural and labour rights of its citizens.”
Peru unions strike US trade deal
The Peruvian National Federation of Mining and Metallurgical Workers announced that they will adhere to the general strike of state teachers demanding salaries and against the Free Trade Treaty (FTT) with the United States.
Tens of thousands protest signing of the Korea-US FTA
On June 29, tens of thousands of farmers, workers, and ordinary Korean people gathered throughout the country to protest the signing of the Korea-US FTA. Protests were held in major cities including Seoul, Cheonju, Gwangju, Daegu, Pusan and Changwon. In total, roughly 50,000 gathered in a powerful display of opposition to the Korea-US FTA.
Costa Rica, free trade fewer jobs
Costa Rica’s PAC party (Citizen Action) president Otton Solis has warned of the potential increase in unemployment if CAFTA-DR, the free trade treaty with the United States, is approved.
EPA yet to set quota for Indonesian workers
Final draft of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Indonesia and Japan has not ruled a quota for Indonesian skilled workers to be employed in Japan, an Indonesiantop official said Saturday.
Metalworkers continue massive strike
Tens of thousands of unionized metalworkers were poised to stage a strike Thursday for a fourth consecutive day to oppose a proposed free trade deal between South Korea and the United States.
Hyundai workers on strike against FTA
Workers at South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor launched a partial strike on Thursday to join an industry-wide walkout in protest at a free trade agreement with the United States.
Metalworkers to go ahead with walkout this week
Unionized metalworkers said Monday they will push ahead with a planned five-day walkout starting Monday, saying a proposed free trade deal between South Korea and the United States will jeopardize their job security.
USTR, Congress settle on changes to trade deals
The Bush administration and U.S. lawmakers have agreed on a blueprint to strengthen labor and environmental protections in four pending free trade deals, trade officials said on Monday.
No FTA Newsletter
In the Newsletter Metal Workers Enter General Strike Police Trying to Arrest Two Co-Chairs of Korean Alliance
Should labor standards have a role in US trade agreements?
Charles Kernaghan of the National Labor Committee and Claude Barfield of the American Enterprise Institute debate the merits of labor standards in trade pacts.
Metalworkers vow to strike against Korea-U.S. FTA next week
An umbrella labor association of the South Korean metalworkers vowed Tuesday to stage a strike next week to block the parliament’s ratification of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States.
Korean, US workers challenge trade pact
Responding to intense and widespread opposition from both US and Korean workers, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers is trying to stop the Bush government’s proposed "free trade" pact with South Korea.
US calls for revisions to S.Korea FTA
The United States has proposed revisions for a free trade agreement with South Korea to reflect Washington’s new guidelines that call for stricter labor and environmental standards, officials said Saturday.
Auto unions to join metal workers in FTA strike
The labor unions of Hyundai Motor and sister company Kia Motors have invited public criticism by deciding to stage a "political" strike against the recently concluded Korea-US free trade agreement.
S Korean autoworkers threaten Hyundai, Kia with partial strikes to protest U.S. trade pact
Workers at South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. will stage partial strikes this month to protest a proposed free trade agreement between South Korea and the U.S., labor unions at the two companies said Tuesday.
U.S. congressman demands elimination of N. Korean products from Korea-U.S. FTA
A U.S. congressman on Monday demanded changes to a tentative free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea that he argued could allow the Asian trading partner to export North Korea-made goods to the United States.