This bill is unprecedented and reflects a prevailing public dissatisfaction with the current NAFTA/CAFTA style trade model that has failed to meet the promise of improved working conditions for workers in Mexico and Central America who continue to flock to the United States by the thousands each year in search of decent jobs. This bill does not denounce trade generally, but calls for a more fair approach to negotiating deals that have shown to be unfair. After seeing the blockage of the Colombia FTA and now the introduction of the TRADE Act, those of us who advocate for a fair trade over a free trade model, are finally seeing a glimmer of hope.
Americans and workers internationally have increasingly questioned the free trade model. An April 2008 poll done by the Pew Research Center showed that 48% of Americans think free trade agreements are a “bad thing”. While workers internationally have shown to be very hopeful about the potential prospects of trade generally, another 2007 Pew poll indicated that only 55% of respondents in Mexico had a positive view of free markets.
This means that a very large portion of the Mexican public is not happy with NAFTA’s free market approach, now that it’s been in effect for 15 years. The poll inevitably leaves out many of world’s working poor, given that these populations are less likely to have accessible phone numbers and addresses. It would be interesting to see the results of a poll that targeted low-income workers specifically.
So what could the TRADE Act’s passage mean for workers worldwide? Primarily, it creates a process that gives workers both here and abroad a voice and allows for their interests to be heard. Instead of aiming to pit workers in the US and abroad against one another, it would help workers both internationally and in the US by leveling the playing field.
More specifically, it aims to protect the International Labor Organization’s definition of “core labor standards” and calls for agreements to put in place “adequate” labor laws that would ensure countries devote sufficient resources to implementing the law and regulations. NAFTA, CAFTA, and other free trade agreements have similar provisions to ensure that companies meet adequate labor standards but enforcement is lax and oversight mechanisms are weak.
In comparison, the TRADE Act calls for labor provisions to be included in the core text of the agreement, whereas NAFTA has a weak “labor side agreement” that is merely symbolic. The TRADE Act also provides for the same level of dispute resolution and penalties that apply to the commercial provisions of the agreement when labor standards aren’t enforced. This is strong language, given that many US politicians on both sides of the aisle are very concerned about commercial enforcement and intellectual property rights in current agreements.
Most importantly, it also calls for a commission for dispute resolution composed of representatives specializing in comparative labor rights, half of whom have to be labor unionists and academic researchers. The commission would seemingly have more power than current enforcement institutions to monitor and enforce labor standards and would be given the resources and tools to take a proactive approach.
Passing a law that serves to enforce labor standards through trade will never be the final answer to achieving just and humane treatment for workers worldwide. We need to empower workers abroad so that they have a voice in their workplace and ensure that they aren’t fired for organizing a union. We need to make sure that companies don’t hold workers to the unrealistic production standards that force them to bring their children to work. We need to ensure that US companies are putting real and serious pressure on their subcontractors and recruiters to enforce wage, hour, sexual harassment and safety laws instead of playing dumb and blaming violations on these middlemen. American citizens and politicians need to understand that without sufficient pressure from Americans as consumers, many large US companies will do whatever it takes to exploit workers abroad. So if the TRADE Act actually passes, we have to remember to stay engaged because the battle to protect workers abroad will be far from over.