SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Worried TPP Will Hurt Workers? This Case Will Provide Some Clues.
"If the administration fails to take strong action, critics will see it as a signal that the U.S. is falling short on linking trade, investment, and labor rights."
Nov 12, 2015
In a development with real implications for the upcoming Congressional debate over the corporate-friendly TransPacific Partnership (TPP), an international coalition of labor and consumer groups on Thursday filed "double-barrel," cross-border complaints to challenge workers' rights abuses by a Mexican retail giant in both the U.S. and Mexico.
Though the complaints are not directly tied to the 12-nation TPP agreement, how the Obama administration responds to them will offer labor and human rights groups a glimpse of its position on labor protections in international trade agreements.
"President Obama is pushing for TPP approval in the face of strong opposition from unions and others who see it as a giveaway to multinational companies that will only intensify inequality and downward pressure on jobs and wages," said University of Maryland international labor law professor Marley Weiss, who was formerly chair of the U.S. National Advisory Committee on the NAFTA labor agreement. "If the administration fails to take strong action in this case, critics will see it as a signal that the United States is falling short on linking trade, investment, and labor rights."
Led by the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 770 (UFCW) union in the U.S. and the Frente Autentico del Trabajo (FAT) union in Mexico, the coalition is seeking redress from Chedraui Commercial Group under both the NAFTA labor agreement and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines.
Chedraui is Mexico's third-largest retail chain with 35,000 employees in more than 200 stores throughout the country; the corporation also has a majority-stake in the California-based Bodega Latina Corporation, which does business as the El Super grocery chain with 50 supermarkets employing more than 5,000 workers in California, Arizona, and Nevada.
According to UFCW Local 770 president Ricardo Icaza, "in both Mexico and the United States, the company has silenced employees' voices and trampled their rights."
The OECD complaint calls for a halt to El Super's "aggressive, multi-year campaign of coercion against workers seeking a living wage, adequate sick days, and affordable health insurance," while the NAFTA filing alleges that Chedraui has "cultivated dozens of sham unions in Mexico through so-called 'protection contracts' that represent the interests of management, not workers, and prevent the formation of independent unions."
"We believe an international solution is necessary to this international problem," said Icaza.
The coalition says that Thursday's filing is the first time complaints about a company's international labor abuses have been simultaneously submitted under both the OECD and NAFTA complaint mechanisms--an approach organizers believe "will produce results tailored to the situation in each country."
But the impact could go far beyond these specific cases, coming just as debate over the controversial TPP--which has been called "NAFTA on steroids"--intensifies. As the Obama administration tries to push the TPP through Congress, labor groups will be watching its response to these complaints, and if it fails to act, TPP critics will likely see it as proof that the U.S. is failing to protect labor rights within trade agreements.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
In a development with real implications for the upcoming Congressional debate over the corporate-friendly TransPacific Partnership (TPP), an international coalition of labor and consumer groups on Thursday filed "double-barrel," cross-border complaints to challenge workers' rights abuses by a Mexican retail giant in both the U.S. and Mexico.
Though the complaints are not directly tied to the 12-nation TPP agreement, how the Obama administration responds to them will offer labor and human rights groups a glimpse of its position on labor protections in international trade agreements.
"President Obama is pushing for TPP approval in the face of strong opposition from unions and others who see it as a giveaway to multinational companies that will only intensify inequality and downward pressure on jobs and wages," said University of Maryland international labor law professor Marley Weiss, who was formerly chair of the U.S. National Advisory Committee on the NAFTA labor agreement. "If the administration fails to take strong action in this case, critics will see it as a signal that the United States is falling short on linking trade, investment, and labor rights."
Led by the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 770 (UFCW) union in the U.S. and the Frente Autentico del Trabajo (FAT) union in Mexico, the coalition is seeking redress from Chedraui Commercial Group under both the NAFTA labor agreement and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines.
Chedraui is Mexico's third-largest retail chain with 35,000 employees in more than 200 stores throughout the country; the corporation also has a majority-stake in the California-based Bodega Latina Corporation, which does business as the El Super grocery chain with 50 supermarkets employing more than 5,000 workers in California, Arizona, and Nevada.
According to UFCW Local 770 president Ricardo Icaza, "in both Mexico and the United States, the company has silenced employees' voices and trampled their rights."
The OECD complaint calls for a halt to El Super's "aggressive, multi-year campaign of coercion against workers seeking a living wage, adequate sick days, and affordable health insurance," while the NAFTA filing alleges that Chedraui has "cultivated dozens of sham unions in Mexico through so-called 'protection contracts' that represent the interests of management, not workers, and prevent the formation of independent unions."
"We believe an international solution is necessary to this international problem," said Icaza.
The coalition says that Thursday's filing is the first time complaints about a company's international labor abuses have been simultaneously submitted under both the OECD and NAFTA complaint mechanisms--an approach organizers believe "will produce results tailored to the situation in each country."
But the impact could go far beyond these specific cases, coming just as debate over the controversial TPP--which has been called "NAFTA on steroids"--intensifies. As the Obama administration tries to push the TPP through Congress, labor groups will be watching its response to these complaints, and if it fails to act, TPP critics will likely see it as proof that the U.S. is failing to protect labor rights within trade agreements.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
In a development with real implications for the upcoming Congressional debate over the corporate-friendly TransPacific Partnership (TPP), an international coalition of labor and consumer groups on Thursday filed "double-barrel," cross-border complaints to challenge workers' rights abuses by a Mexican retail giant in both the U.S. and Mexico.
Though the complaints are not directly tied to the 12-nation TPP agreement, how the Obama administration responds to them will offer labor and human rights groups a glimpse of its position on labor protections in international trade agreements.
"President Obama is pushing for TPP approval in the face of strong opposition from unions and others who see it as a giveaway to multinational companies that will only intensify inequality and downward pressure on jobs and wages," said University of Maryland international labor law professor Marley Weiss, who was formerly chair of the U.S. National Advisory Committee on the NAFTA labor agreement. "If the administration fails to take strong action in this case, critics will see it as a signal that the United States is falling short on linking trade, investment, and labor rights."
Led by the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 770 (UFCW) union in the U.S. and the Frente Autentico del Trabajo (FAT) union in Mexico, the coalition is seeking redress from Chedraui Commercial Group under both the NAFTA labor agreement and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines.
Chedraui is Mexico's third-largest retail chain with 35,000 employees in more than 200 stores throughout the country; the corporation also has a majority-stake in the California-based Bodega Latina Corporation, which does business as the El Super grocery chain with 50 supermarkets employing more than 5,000 workers in California, Arizona, and Nevada.
According to UFCW Local 770 president Ricardo Icaza, "in both Mexico and the United States, the company has silenced employees' voices and trampled their rights."
The OECD complaint calls for a halt to El Super's "aggressive, multi-year campaign of coercion against workers seeking a living wage, adequate sick days, and affordable health insurance," while the NAFTA filing alleges that Chedraui has "cultivated dozens of sham unions in Mexico through so-called 'protection contracts' that represent the interests of management, not workers, and prevent the formation of independent unions."
"We believe an international solution is necessary to this international problem," said Icaza.
The coalition says that Thursday's filing is the first time complaints about a company's international labor abuses have been simultaneously submitted under both the OECD and NAFTA complaint mechanisms--an approach organizers believe "will produce results tailored to the situation in each country."
But the impact could go far beyond these specific cases, coming just as debate over the controversial TPP--which has been called "NAFTA on steroids"--intensifies. As the Obama administration tries to push the TPP through Congress, labor groups will be watching its response to these complaints, and if it fails to act, TPP critics will likely see it as proof that the U.S. is failing to protect labor rights within trade agreements.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.