[CTC] U.S. efforts on NAFTA labor provisions crucial for attracting congressional Democratic support

Fri Nov 17 07:25:03 PST 2017

POLITICO

U.S. efforts on NAFTA labor provisions crucial for attracting congressional Democratic support
By ADAM BEHSUDI <https://www.politicopro.com/staff/adam-behsudi>
11/16/2017 06:23 PM EST

President Donald Trump's promises of tougher trade policies fall in line with the demands of many labor organizations and public interest groups, but even they are wary about the ability or willingness of his administration to deliver tough new rules to improve Mexico’s labor and wage standards in NAFTA.

Labor groups say U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who is in the middle of renegotiating NAFTA, is at least listening to their concerns more than the Obama administration did during the course of negotiations for the TPP. But the Trump administration’s eagerness to roll back labor protections here did not instill in them confidence in America's willingness to push Mexico to improve its working conditions.

“It’s far too early to be issuing kudos or talking about which administration is a better friend to workers,” Celeste Drake, trade policy specialist at the AFL-CIO, said during a call with reporters Thursday. “If the new NAFTA cannot raise wages, level the playing field and ensure even basic international labor standards in all three NAFTA countries, these negotiations will have failed.”

As negotiators begin the fifth round of negotiations this week in Mexico, there are low expectations for any breakthroughs on an issue that will be vital for attracting any Democratic support for the deal.

“At the root of it, I don’t think this administration cares about worker rights,” said one senior Democratic House aide. “Solidarity is a big part of this, and Trump only cares about the effect on U.S. jobs.”

Lighthizer and the top trade officials from Mexico and Canada won’t meet during Round 5, taking place in Mexico City, where the focus is expected to be on technical issues rather than substantive changes to the labor sections to NAFTA, said a lawmaker who has been on the forefront of this issue.

“I’ve been told directly they won’t be taking up most of the major outstanding issues, including this one,” Rep. Sandy Levin <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/51482> (D-Mich.) said in an interview.

Levin, who was instrumental in writing the first bipartisan agreement <https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/factsheets/2007/asset_upload_file127_11319.pdf> for tightening labor protections in trade deals, said the “crux” of addressing this administration’s overarching goal of reducing the trade deficit with Mexico is tied to improving its wage and labor standards to preventing the offshoring of manufacturing and the related jobs.

Levin said other proposals the U.S. has made, such requiring automakers to produce more content in America, did not go far enough. Those provisions “won’t change the basic dynamic of industry going to where labor is cheapest and it will stay that way unless there is basic, basic change,” he said.

Levin and U.S. labor groups say the Mexican government had done little to address “corporate unionism" — under which collective bargaining occurs between a company and employer-controlled unions. There's little indication the Trump administration has pressed Mexico on these so-called protection contracts and other labor shortcomings.

The labor movement has been supportive of Canada’s labor proposal, which not only demands that the U.S. scrap its “right to work” laws but also requires countries to adopt new protections against intimidation and coercion and gender discrimination. However, the Trump administration has not indicated whether it would accept any of Canada's proposals.

“My understanding is it still is on the table and Canada has not backed down,” Drake said.

“There is not at this moment a breakthrough about to occur on this issue, I think it is the case that the U.S. will engage in a discussion of Canada’s labor proposal,” said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, who participated in the same call with reporters.

The initial labor proposal from the U.S., which was introduced at the third round of talks in Ottawa, largely mirrors what the Obama administration secured <https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/TPP-Protecting-Workers-Fact-Sheet.pdf> in the TPP. The TPP labor chapter broke new ground in some respects, such as by requiring countries to establish a minimum wage. Similar to TPP, the U.S. labor proposal in NAFTA would also be binding and enforceable — a change from the current pact. But critics said that the U.S. proposal for the new labor chapter does little to push Mexico to make any meaningful changes.

Levin said he has had “considerable” discussions with Lighthizer on NAFTA’s labor issues and “he has indicated he understands it.”

But he said he made clear to both Lighthizer and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that to get any Democratic support to win passage of NAFTA 2.0 in Congress, the deal has to include labor rules that go beyond the TPP provisions.

Levin opposed NAFTA when it came up for a vote in Congress 24 years ago, largely because it did not make labor rules an enforceable part of the agreement. He also opposed <https://medium.com/@repsandylevin/why-i-oppose-tpp-1810dec2a79d> the TPP after Mexico refused to directly connect labor rights improvements to its benefits under the trade deal.

Levin said House Democrats are working on a letter similar to a missive <https://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/baldwin-leads-letter-to-trump-calling-for-strong-protections-for-workers> sent to Lighthizer by 18 Democratic senators this week.

The senators asked for a “bold” labor chapter proposal including improvements to the May 10, 2007, agreement, which has since been the template for most labor provisions in U.S. trade agreements. The May 10 agreement borrowed language from the 2005 Central American Free Trade Agreement, which labor leaders accuse of setting a bad precedent for labor trade disputes.

An international ruling <http://trade.gov/industry/tas/Guatemala%20%20%E2%80%93%20Obligations%20Under%20Article%2016-2-1(a)%20of%20the%20CAFTA-DR%20%20June%2014%202017.pdf> under this summer over CAFTA’s labor chapter prevented the United States from seeking penalties on Guatemala for failing to effectively enforce its labor laws because the violations weren’t done in a “manner affecting trade.”

“The Guatemala case was a totally erroneous decision,” Levin said. “I wrote the May 10 Agreement, and the panel totally misrepresented, totally misunderstood what affecting trade meant.”
Despite Lighthizer’s promise of getting a “huge number of Democrats” to support any renegotiated deal, the backing of Democratic lawmakers and organized labor will largely hinge on major improvements to NAFTA’s labor standards.

“Everything else whether it’s good or bad isn’t going to work if we don’t have unanimity and clear rules for a level playing field that will bring up rights and wages for Mexico’s workers,” Drake said. “If we can’t get those up, it’s just a losing battle.”

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.citizenstrade.org/pipermail/ctcfield-citizenstrade.org/attachments/20171117/c019d6e3/attachment.html>