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labour | workers’ rights


We were not consulted in AfCFTA policy formulation - TUC laments
The Trades Union Congress, Ghana (TUC-Ghana) is unhappy about neglect in the formulation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) policy.
Zimbabwean unions demand pro-worker trade policies
At the industrialization policy conference in Harare, trade unions discuss whether trade and industrialization are a panacea to Zimbabwe’s economic woes. They also identified the role unions play in policy making to ensure that workers and communities benefit from trade.
India-Canada free trade pact may include new areas such as labour, environment, gender
Negotiations on the Early Progress Trade Agreement are at an advanced stage for many sectors, say officials.
CEPA may pose risks for domestic industry, jobs
Signing the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with India may pose risks for Bangladesh’s domestic industry, revenue and jobs, forecasts a state-sponsored research and training institute.
India pushing for mobility commitment, social security pact in FTA with UK
India is hoping to persuade the UK to weave in provisions of the bilateral migration and mobility agreement, that allows enhanced opportunity for young professionals to live and work in each other’s countries.
Canadian and Mexican unions initiate Canadian government trade challenge to stop abuses at Mexican factory
Autoworker unions in Canada and Mexico applaud the launch of a trade complaint by the Canadian government to stop labour abuses at a Mexican auto parts facility owned by global automotive supplier Fränkische.
Civil societies call on European Parliament to pressure Vietnam on human rights
Civil groups urged the European Parliament to step up pressure on Vietnam to improve its dismal human and labor rights records during a review of the implementation of the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement.
Emerging issues in the IPEF trade negotiations: A critical summary
The US is trying to present IPEF as a rethinking of the aggressive trade liberalisation model it championed for the last four decades. At its core, however, IPEF appears to be mainly a geopolitical tool for the US to maintain its hegemony in the Asia-Pacific.
AfCFTA international labour standards deficit must be addressed
Trade unions expressed the need for ILO international labour standards to be included in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to protect workers’ rights and interests.
In Mexico, US complaints help union organizing efforts
It has been nearly two years since the United States began pressing Mexico over labor rights violations by using rapid dispute resolution methods contained in the USMCA but workers and union organizers are mixed on the results.
Without public participation, the Indonesia-EU CEPA negotiations potentially create a multidimensional crisis in Indonesia
The Indonesian CSOs assesses that the I-EU CEPA Agreement will deepen the crisis of democracy, climate and social justice for all Indonesian people. For this reason, the MKE Coalition urges the Government of Indonesia to not submitting the agreement before they can guarantee legal certainty for the fulfillment of democratic rights, guarantees for the protection of human rights, social justice, and sustainable environment.
AFL-CIO wants bigger say in US digital trade deals for workers
The largest US labor organization issued a set of principles that it says is needed to protect workers, the public’s privacy and governments’ ability to regulate a rapidly evolving sector as the USTR negotiates digital trade agreements.
Sunak ‘risks full-scale trade war’ with Brussels by scrapping EU laws
The UK’s plan to lower standards in areas such as environmental protection and workers’ rights could breach “level playing field” provisions that were at the heart of the post-Brexit trade and cooperation agreement, say EU politicians.
How do UK trade agreements measure up on human rights?
There is an urgent need for coherence. The UK should set out clearly in a trade strategy how its trade policy will support human rights, labour rights and the climate, including how each trade agreement will meet the four tests laid out here.
African unions demand strong labour provisions in AfCFTA
Unions want labour provisions to be included in the next phases of negotiations of the African Continental Free Trade Areas (AfCFTA).
Climate, labour remain knotty issues in EU FTA
Several knotty issues related to labour, environment and sustainability that have emerged in negotiations between India and the European Union on a free trade agreement will require political guidance for further progress
Free trade zone workers in Nicaragua are without rights
The entry into force in 2006 of the CAFTA-DR represented a notable boost to Nicaraguan exports of products made in companies that operate under the free trade zone regime, which required the hiring of a lot of labor.
ILO, others seek protection of labour rights under AfCFTA
The International Labour Organisation (ILO), Organisation of Trade Unions in West Africa (OTUWA) and International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) calls for protection of labour in the the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA).
Katherine Tai on enforcing trade agreements
The original NAFTA might have had labor and environment rules, but they turned out that they were unenforceable and there were no teeth, said USTR Tai.
AFL-CIO requests USMCA labor complaint at Saint-Gobain glassmaker in Mexico
The biggest US labor federation asked the US government to open a complaint at a Saint-Gobain glass plant in Mexico, the latest in a series of petitions alleging worker rights violations in Mexico under a regional trade pact.