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labour | workers’ rights


Democrats cool toward NAFTA replacement, question labor standards
Several Democrats said a closed-door meeting between United States Trade Representative failed to ease their concerns about the new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s provisions on labor, biologic drugs and some other issues.
Unions to fight wage-crushing Indonesian FTA
Australian unions stepped up their opposition to the deal as it currently stands and warned they would lobby a future Labor government to renegotiate the terms before it is ratified by parliament.
NAFTA 2.0: Nothing for workers
A failure to seriously resist NAFTA 2.0’s passage into law in Canada, the US and Mexico will amount to capitulation and the acceptance of an agreement that by design, like the original NAFTA, intrinsically serves the interests of Capital.
There’s a hidden cost in Trump’s new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico
Investment treaties with ISDS provisions make it hard to tax foreign firms and worsen human rights and labor practices.
EU urges S. Korea to ratify ILO conventions
The European Commission asked South Korea to start consultations on labor issues under a dispute settlement mechanism in the Trade and Sustainable Development chapter in the bilateral free trade agreement implemented in 2011.
JEFTA: a danger for the future
The CGT, the French Trade Union Confederation and ZENROREN the Japanese Trade Union are calling on MEPs not to ratify JEFTA and to demand transparent negotiations in which workers’ unions have their say.
The new NAFTA: A license to discriminate on the basis of sex
Final text weakens and nullifies protections against work discrimination.
Future of USMCA could turn on labour rights
It is unrealistic to expect even the most gold-plated labour provisions in FTAs to redress the vast power imbalance between workers and gigantic, internationally mobile corporations.
Special economic zones: engines of development or sites of exploitation?
Many SEZs have been associated with compressions of land, labour and human rights. Investment treaties protect investments against adverse regulatory change, including in SEZs. To date, investors have brought at least 20 arbitrations to challenge diverse aspects of SEZ regimes.
Joint ITUC-Africa/ETUC/ITUC statement on the EU-Africa EPAs and EU-Africa trade relations
Trade unions from Africa and Europe have followed with grave concern the negotiation and conclusion of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the EU and regional groupings in Africa.
Challenging the far right’s nationalist opposition to free trade deals
Extreme right-wing, anti-immigration and Islamophobic parties tend to oppose so-called "free trade" agreements.
AMWU Statement on the Trans Pacific Partnership
As part of the Change the Rules campaign, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) and the broader union movement have raised significant concerns with Labor and the Government about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.
Indonesia FTA in doubt as Labor tightens trade rules
The free trade agreement between Australia and Indonesia is in peril after Labor said it would not ratify the deal, or any other FTA in the pipeline, unless provisions allowing the importation of foreign workers and the ability of foreign governments to sue, were stripped out.
Crossbenchers plot to embarrass Labor over Trans-Pacific Partnership
Crossbenchers are ramping up pressure on Labor at the 11th hour to reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, drafting amendments that would force opposition senators to vote against the party’s policy.
Eurogroup for Animals launches a study on biodiversity provisions in EU FTAs
Trade and Sustainable Development provisions in EU FTAs remain aspirational and there is no clear trend of improvement.
Trump’s trade deal with Mexico gives workers more rights than NAFTA. But there’s a catch
When NAFTA was signed, it included labor protections for workers in all three countries. But labor complaints filed through the NAFTA labor dispute process have led nowhere.
Japan to accept more caregivers from three Southeastern Asian countries
Japan is planning to accept a greater number of caregivers from three Southeastern Asian countries having bilateral free trade agreements with Tokyo as part of efforts to address a labour shortage in the country.
Asia’s evolving ‘free’ trade deal may not benefit workers
Labor unions and workers’ rights advocates fear that the secretive RCEP agreement will further erode workers’ rights in the Asian region, while strengthening the hands of investors who may be able to sue governments for changing laws such as setting minimum wages, that would erode their profitability.
Concerns over Việt Nam-EU FTA signing
Việt Nam still needs to ratify - or commit to ratify - three conventions among eight core conventions of the International Labour Organisation required for the approval of the EVFTA by the EU
Mexico’s historic election: A labor perspective
The recent election in Mexico is a referendum on the global reaction to the neoliberal assaults accompanying trade deals like NAFTA and TPP. Listen to this webinar with Manuel Perez-Rocha and Héctor de la Cueva