[CTC] Senate Democrats outline labor demands in NAFTA

[Arthur Stamoulis]

POLITICO PRO
 
Senate Democrats outline labor demands in NAFTA
By MEGAN CASSELLA <https://www.politicopro.com/staff/megan-cassella>
Nov 15, 2017 9:33 AM EST
 
Sixteen Senate Democrats are asking the Trump administration to push for stricter labor standards in a renegotiated NAFTA agreement, asking that no elements of the new deal be implemented "unless and until" all three North American countries have made adequate reforms to the labor market.
 
In a letter sent today to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the lawmakers asked that U.S. negotiators tighten the so-called May 10 labor agreement, which they blasted as "inadequate" in its current form.
 
Specifically, they demanded that U.S. negotiators eliminate stipulations that say that labor law violations must be recurring and done in a manner affecting trade in order to constitute a violation.
 
They also recommended building an "independent labor monitoring and compliance body" into NAFTA, which they argued would help "overcome decades of inadequate monitoring and enforcement" and help all workers.
 
"We believe that the reforms outlined above can reverse the race to the bottom that has led to job losses and wage stagnation in the United States," they wrote.
 
USTR should engage face-to-face with lawmakers to discuss labor and other NAFTA ideas further, they asked, adding that doing so could "spur creativity and bridge divides."
 
Signees included Sens. Tammy Baldwin <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/51260> (D-Wis.), Ed Markey  <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/51500>(D-Mass.), Elizabeth Warren <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/140963> (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/51503> (D-N.Y.), Chris Murphy <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/51493> (D-Conn.), Mazie Hirono <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/51558> (D-Hawaii), Debbie Stabenow <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/51236> (D-Mich.), Sheldon Whitehouse <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/51844> (D-R.I.), Al Franken <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/75169> (D-Minn.), Bob Casey <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/51840> (D-Penn.), Jeff Merkley <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/66836> (D-Ore.), Gary Peters <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/66862> (D-Mich.), Cory Booker <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/211545> (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/198768> (D-Ill.), Richard Blumenthal <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/151824> (D-Conn.) and Bob Menéndez <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/51523>(D-N.J.).
 
Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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