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labour | workers’ rights

EU-Vietnam trade deal a bad day for workers’ rights
25-Jun-2019 EU Observer
Behind the smiles and handshakes, the signature of the EU-Vietnam trade and investment deals - being agreed on Tuesday (25 June) and to be signed at the end of this week - have dire consequences for human well-being and our ability to prevent climate and ecological breakdown.
Labor holds off supporting Indonesian free trade agreement
10-Jun-2019 The Guardian
ALP had pledged to renegotiate agreement if it won office but will now wait until parliament resume to decide whether to ratify it
Mexico trade official hits Dems for opposition to new NAFTA
6-May-2019 The Hill
Mexico’s top trade negotiator said he hopes congressional Democrats can “appreciate” what Mexico’s reforms mean for labor rights throughout the continent.
Mexican Senate passes labor bill, key to approving new NAFTA
30-Apr-2019 Reuters
The bill enshrines the right of Mexican workers to organize and gives them more control over their contracts.
US labor opposes USMCA in current form: official
24-Apr-2019 France 24
The head of the largest US labor union said he opposes ratification of the new North American free trade pact, because he doubts Mexico will enforce labor reforms required by the deal.
RCEP - trade unions seek consultation by the government
24-Apr-2019 Malaysia Kini
Trade union representatives seek meaningful consultation by the government in the negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement or RCEP.
EU warns of initiating expert panel if S. Korea fails to resolve ILO ratification
9-Apr-2019 Yonhap
The European Commission warned that it will seek to launch an expert panel to review South Korea’s compliance with the free trade pact it signed with the European Union if it fails to ratify key international labor conventions.
Trump’s damaged NAFTA deal
5-Apr-2019 The American Prospect
USMCA bears many resemblances to NAFTA, which has been cited as a driver of low-wage corporate outsourcing.
Top House Democrat cites labor, enforcement concerns on new NAFTA
3-Apr-2019 Reuters
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers could not take up the replacement for NAFTA unless Mexico passes legislation protecting workers’ rights. She also cited concerns over enforcement provisions, among other issues.
The globalisation of border control and peoples’ resistance
14-Mar-2019 TNI
A workshop aimed to promote a collective analysis of border control, focusing on the power and impunity of transnational corporations, militarization, the externalization of borders, and the link between free trade and migration.
Democrats cool toward NAFTA replacement, question labor standards
14-Mar-2019 Reuters
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
5-Mar-2019 Macrobusiness
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
21-Jan-2019 The Bullet
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
3-Jan-2019 Washington Post
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
17-Dec-2018 Korea Herald
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
11-Dec-2018 CGT
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
7-Dec-2018 NUPGE
Final text weakens and nullifies protections against work discrimination.
Future of USMCA could turn on labour rights
1-Dec-2018 Behind the Numbers
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?
8-Nov-2018 IIED
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
28-Oct-2018 ETUC
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.