Related Articles

U.S., Central American Labor Leaders: Include Workers Rights in Trade Pact

January 10, 2003

An international contingent of labor leaders warned trade negotiators not to forget workers rights and sustainable development as the United States enters talks with five Central American countries in pursuit of a regional pact.

The United States seeks a NAFTA-like agreement with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua that would liberalize trade and increase economic development among the countries. Already, the United States is one of the areas most important trading partners. The United States imports $11 billion annually from the region; the five Latin American countries import $9 billion from the United States.

The AFL-CIO and Central American trade unions issued a landmark joint international declaration on Wednesday demanding any core trade agreement among the countries offer a vision for economic integration and workers rights.

"In the face of a stumbling economy and high unemployment throughout the region, our governments are pursuing a free-trade agenda that feeds corporate greed but destroys good jobs and hinders real development," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. "Workers in the U.S. and Central America have a better plan for a new generation of trade rules that will respect our rights, preserve our environment and strengthen our economies."

The declaration rejects the simple expansion of NAFTA, which caused hundreds of thousands of jobs to flee the United States for Mexico and failed to achieve lasting development or reduce poverty there. It calls for enforceable protections for workers right, more humane immigration policies, debt relief for Central American nations and more transparency in the negotiation process.

The United States hopes to have the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) completed within a year, after which it will pursue the larger Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement that envisions a hemisphere-wide trade zone.

Bush Signs Fast Track; Trade Bill Now Law

Secretary-Treasurer O'Connor's statement from December '01 Journal...