E: Human Rights Watch Blasts NAFTA Labor Accord

Subject: CAGE: Human Rights Watch Blasts NAFTA Labor Accord

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/nafta/

Human Rights Watch Blasts NAFTA Labor Accord

NAFTA Labor Accord Ineffective
Future Trade Pacts Must Avoid Pitfalls

(New York, April 16, 2001) Mexico, the United States, and Canada have
ignored critically important labor rights obligations under the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Human Rights Watch said in a
comprehensive new study released today.

On the eve of the Quebec summit of Western hemisphere leaders, Human
Rights
Watch called for the creation of an independent oversight agency to spur
remedial action for workers' rights violations. "The NAFTA experience is
an
important lesson for any future trade agreements," said José Miguel
Vivanco,
executive director of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch. "Our
research shows that agreements on labor will never work without the
active
support of the countries involved. In the case of NAFTA, these three
countries have actually worked to minimize the impact of the labor
provisions."

Vivanco urged that the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA),
a
key agenda item at the Quebec summit, should be designed to avoid the
weaknesses of the NAFTA regime.

The 64-page report, "Trading Away Rights: The Unfulfilled Promise of
NAFTA's
Labor Side Agreement," analyzes the twenty-three complaints filed under
the
accord since it came into force in 1994. The complaints allege
systematic
workers' rights violations in all three countries - fourteen in Mexico,
seven in the United States, and two in Canada. Companies named as
violators
include General Electric, Honeywell, Sony, General Motors, McDonald's,
Sprint, and the Washington State apple industry.

The NAFTA labor provisions, known formally as the North American
Agreement
on Labor Cooperation (NAALC), are the most ambitious link between trade
and
labor rights ever implemented, Human Rights Watch said. They include
eleven
"labor principles" including freedom of association, discrimination, and
minimum wage. The accord also requires the signatories to have high
labor
standards and provide access to fair labor tribunals.

Complaints filed under the NAALC so far have cited favoritism toward
employer-controlled unions; firings for workers' organizing efforts;
denial
of collective bargaining rights; forced pregnancy testing; mistreatment
of
migrant workers; life-threatening health and safety conditions; and
other
violations of the eleven "labor principles."

Human Rights Watch said that not one of the 23 complaints filed under
NAALC
had so far resulted in sanctions against an alleged labor rights
violator.

Human Rights Watch urged that labor rights protections should be
recognized
as an integral part of any trade agreement, rather than being relegated
to a
side accord. It also said that sanctions should be used to punish any
violation of the NAALC's labor principles and obligations, not only
non-enforcement of laws that fall within the narrow categories
established
under NAALC.

The NAALC rules currently lack standards for accepting or rejecting
cases,
for following up on issues raised by petitioners, or for deciding what
constitutes an appropriate government response to violations. But Human
Rights Watch said the NAALC could be used much more effectively, even in
its
current form, if its oversight bodies were more aggressive in pursuing
violations. Unfortunately, the NAALC oversight bodies - called National
Administrative Offices - have failed to act aggressively.

"The NAFTA labor accords suffer from both structural defects and a lack
of
political will," said Vivanco. "Taken together, they represent a very
serious blow to labor rights in the region."

As part of its work to promote labor rights, Human Rights Watch has
filed
two petitions before the NAALC since 1996.