U.S.: Trade Agreements Should Address Workers Rights
Any future trade agreements between the United States and other countries must include provisions dealing with the rights of workers in those countries, Bama Athreya, executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), told a meeting sponsored last month by Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.
Athreya pointed to the United Nations Generalized System of Preferences, which sets forth conditions that selected developing countries must meet in their trade with the United States and other developed nations. Labor rights provisions, such as bans on forced labor and child labor, were first added to the GSP in 1984, and through the 1980s and 1990s attempts were made to “level the playing field” in terms of worker rights, culminating in the formation in 1995 of the World Trade Organization, Athreya said.
A 'Squandering of Good Will'
Since the early 2000s, however, “there has been a squandering of the reservoir of good will around the world with respect to trade with the U.S.,” Athreya said, with any multilateral negotiations “coming to a standstill.” Instead, the Bush Administration initiated bilateral agreements, such as the currently pending Colombian free trade agreement.
“A problem with trade preference programs and free trade agreements,” according to Athreya, “is that even if the language [related to labor conditions] looks good, enforcing agencies have discretion.”
Unless a petition is filed with the U.S. Trade Representative on behalf of foreign workers, for example, there is no action the United States can take to enforce the trade preferences. “Trade preferences require a trigger” for authorities to begin an investigation into labor conditions, Athreya said, adding that “we need to minimize that discretion.”
Corporations 'Self-Regulating'
Turning to private enforcement and corporate initiatives to improve labor conditions abroad, Athreya said that “we have seen a proliferation of private, voluntary efforts to self-regulate on labor issues,” including Wal-Mart's recent announcement that it would step up enforcement of job safety standards at its Chinese suppliers' facilities.
“But one is not a substitute for the other,” Athreya said, referring to corporate self-regulation and government enforcement. Factories in China and elsewhere should be brought into compliance with core labor rights provisions of the GSP as well as with local labor laws, Athreya said.
Nevertheless, Athreya said that she was “delighted” to see more and more companies talking less about “corporate social responsibility” and more about “sustainability,” a term used by Wal-Mart in its most recent announcement. While the term originally referred solely to environmental responsibility, Athreya said, “it now also means that corporations must treat people in a sustainable manner.”
Included in a company's sustainability policy should be not only adherence to core labor rights, such as the right to be free from forced labor, but also consideration of other provisions, such as a living wage for workers and health and safety concerns.
Athreya added that her organization participates in initiatives with corporations, which increasingly are realizing that they should involve organizations like ILRF when formulating their corporate social responsibility and sustainability policies. As an example, she pointed to Nike, which has worked with ILRF and, since being exposed for labor rights violations at its foreign suppliers in the 1990s, has decided to “resurrect its image” because the company realized its negative reputation was hurting its bottom line.
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