Obama responded by saying, "The history in Colombia right now is that labor leaders have been
targeted for assassination on a fairly consistent basis and there have
not been prosecutions. And what I have said, because the free
trade -- the trade agreement itself does have labor and environmental
protections, but we have to stand for human rights and we have to make
sure that violence isn't being perpetrated against workers who are just
trying to organize for their rights..." 

McCain's response to Obama's statements about the labor rights violations and lack of enforcement of labor rights in Colombia, was basically just to roll his eyes (Check out the video below and both of the photos on this post are screen captures from when Obama mentioned the assassination of unionists in Colombia).  He then followed up with an outrageous accusation about Obama somehow supporting Hugo Chavez who is somehow "helping" the FARC in Colombia.

In my opinion, this brief exchange showed a lot about how the two candidates view trade and international labor rights.  While Obama did not expand much on his vision for trade policy, he clearly stated that strong labor and environmental standards should be linked to any trade policies and that we should ensure that our trading partners protect the right to organize and enforce international labor standards.  Obama also criticized NAFTA because it "did not have enforceable labor agreements and environmental agreements."  However, his support for the Peru FTA as a model trade agreement should raise concerns since it was opposed by workers in Peru and the U.S.

On the other hand, McCain clearly showed that he views trade in terms of maximizing profit for multinational corporations.  He made no mention of the impact of trade on workers (except saying that the Colombia FTA would increase U.S. jobs) and the status of labor rights in Colombia.  In fact, in the entire debate, McCain did not use the words "labor" or "middle class" or "working class" and the only time he said "union" was in referring to the National Taxpayers Union.  The only time he said "worker" was when he said, that we "need to have education and training programs for displaced workers that work" right
before calling the Colombia FTA a "no-brainer."

Meanwhile, Colombia continues to be the most dangerous country in the world for union organizing.  The number of unionists murdered this year has already surpassed the number killed last year and the impunity rate for these murders remains at 96 percent.  Last month, USLEAP released an in-depth analysis showing continued impunity for murders of trade unionists in Colombia.  Today, Human Rights Watch released a new report criticizing Colombian President Uribe for jeopardizing attempts to curb the influence of paramilitary groups in politics and to bring paramilitaries and their accomplices to justice.  There are countless examples of how workers' rights are violated in Colombia which we have covered on this blog.  Just yesterday, Cecily Harwitt of USLEAP wrote about sugar cane workers in Colombia who are on strike and the violent retribution they are facing.  Additionally, indigenous communities in Colombia have been participating in a march since Monday of this week to promote their rights and to oppose Plan Colombia and the Colombia FTA and they have faced violent attacks from the Colombian military and paramilitary groups.

In the 2006 election, trade policy played a major role
in bringing in new members to Congress who promised to promote a new
vision for fair trade, so it is disappointing to see that trade has not
been featured more prominently in the debates.  As election day quickly approaches, let's continue to ask the candidates to clarify their positions on international trade and to be specific about how they will protect workers' rights in the U.S. and globally.  Looking past election day, labor rights advocates need to be prepared to continue and strengthen our work no matter who is elected.