ROUNDTABLE ON LABOR LAW

This roundtable included the following participants: Professor Germán Sánchez Daza, of the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla; Marianne Marchand of the Universidad de las Américas Puebla; and Dr. Luis Manuel Olivares, Legal Director of the Colegio de México. In addition, the report was enriched with the queries and comments made by the public.

Whereas:

1. International trade agreements are a means of reducing countries’ vulnerability vis-à-vis the large economic powers inasmuch as they establish clear rules for international trade;

2. Of the 34 countries participating in the FTAA, 29 are in favor of creating a special committee on labor rights;

3. Most of the countries participating in the FTAA negotiations are members of the International Labour Organization;

4. The current pattern of economic reproduction leads to the overexploitation of the labor force and structural unemployment, which result in both flexibility and segmentation in the labor sector as well as increasingly precarious working conditions;

5. The countries of Latin America are at best only 65 per cent as competitive as the United States, which makes them base their commercial competitiveness on lower labor costs;

6. The labor clauses set forth in the third Draft FTAA Agreement are totally inadequate for protecting workers' labor rights; and

7. Organized civil society can and must have a bearing on the FTAA negotiations, the following actions are hereby

PROPOSED:

FIRST: Set up a specific negotiating group on labor issues within the FTAA.

SECOND: Establish labor clauses within the FTAA based on the commitments assumed by the countries in the International Labour Organization and other agreements on the protection of labor rights.

THIRD: Substantially improve the current chapter on labor law in the third Draft FTAA Agreement by basing it on the principle of the need to preserve and guarantee the protection of workers’ rights.

FOURTH: Establish the right to participate in the negotiations; establish basic workers’ rights, provide for adequate monitoring and sanctions, funds and programs to address unemployment that might arise from the adjustment process, as well as special training programs and programs to protect against instability in the labor sector.

FIFTH. Include the basic principle of non-discrimination in the chapter on labor, set up systems for social dialogue, include education and professional training as a fundamental right in a changing environment in which skills and personnel training are essential if workers are to compete.

SIXTH. Establish active legal entitlement in the dispute settlement mechanism, not only for states but also for other entities.

SEVENTH. Establish that labor issues are linked to the social responsibility of enterprises.