Think Free-Trade Deals Can Raise Labor Standards? This Case Suggests Otherwise

[eridani]

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/18413/guatemala_free_trade_labor_standards_case

The first-ever labor case brought under a free-trade agreement is almost over—but it’s taken years to bring just one case this far, and the potential penalty is a mere slap on the wrist. The next time a politician assures you a free-trade deal will raise labor standards overseas, here’s your counterexample.

In December, an arbitration panel will issue its ruling on a complaint brought by the United States under the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) against the Guatemalan government for failing to effectively enforce its labor laws.

It’s been seven years since the AFL-CIO, together with six Guatemalan unions, first submitted a complaint to the Department of Labor. They accused Guatemala of failing to protect workers’ legally guaranteed rights—to association, collective bargaining, and acceptable conditions—by not conducting inspections, registering unions, or ensuring compliance with court orders.

Only 2 percent of Guatemala’s working population belongs to a union. It has become one of the most dangerous countries in the world for union activists. The AFL-CIO reported that 72 Guatemalan unionists had been murdered since CAFTA went into effect, as of August 2014, with near-total impunity for their assassins.

The case should ring a note of caution about the hype for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the free-trade deal the Obama Administration is pushing next.

[djean111]

1. Sadly, I don't believe anyone really thinks that. Those who say it are just telling lies in order

to stifle opposition.

Anyone who believes that the TPP will help those apocryphal "poor Vietnamese farmers" is a fool, IMO. The TPP is designed to make the 99% INTO "poor Vietnamese farmers", when it comes to wages and working conditions and benefits.

[raouldukelives]

2. Yep. I used to be one. Invested against the rights of others to live in peace.

Then, like grace, the answer was made clear. One is what one does. Know thyself.

[jeff47]

3. I'd amend your statement to "anyone in government really thinks that".

There's plenty of "regular" people who have bought the claim that the TPP will boost labor standards It's been the main selling point for the TPP to liberals, and poor coverage of the results of previous "free trade" deals means many people have not seen proof otherwise.

[Populist_Prole]

4. Those who claim so don't really believe it, and don't care either

It's just a layer of icing to cover their plutocratic aims. Just a veneer of benignity to sell it to an increasingly skeptical population; the skepticism being well founded due to past agreements.

When I say they make the argument in bad faith, I mean it. They don't care about us: They're indifferent at best; categorically hostile at worst.

Any argument against yet more FTAs made to their promoters will always evolve...or devolve from a chirpy "Trade is good for you, but you just don't know it yet" to "You've had it too good already compared to the rest of the world, so under the bus you go".