[CTC] Pascrell, citing lack of specifics from Mexico, says he's ‘leaning no’ on NAFTA 2.0

Thu Oct 31 10:49:34 PDT 2019

VIDEO of yesterday’s Hill briefing on Mexican labor rights is at: https://www.facebook.com/GlobalTradeWatch/videos/750257052157879/UzpfSTY1NjI4NTczMTIxNzAyNjoxMjcxNTQyOTM2MzU3OTY2/

Pascrell, citing lack of specifics from Mexico, says he's ‘leaning no’ on USMCA
INSIDE US TRADE, 10/30/2019

House Ways & Means trade subcommittee member Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) is “leaning no” on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, he said on Wednesday, pointing to what he said were continuing concerns about Mexico's labor commitments.

“I have not decided how I am going to vote although I am leaning no,” he said during an Oct. 30 event on Capitol Hill, calling the decision the “elephant in the room.”

“While there are those who are rushing desperately to get this done … I want to pump the brakes until we see real change. That means enduring enforcement and labor standards in a final agreement,” Pascrell added, alleging that “very few specifics” were outlined by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in a letter sent to lawmakers earlier this month. López Obrador committed to boost 2020 spending on the implementation of the country’s labor reform by 23 percent.

While Pascrell says he believes López Obrador wants to make the necessary changes required by USMCA, he questioned whether the two were “talking the same language.”

“After … my trip [to Mexico], after I read his letter -- I worry we are just cooking the same soup. These changes we are seeing are a nibble and a drop in a bucket to what is needed to finally fix a broken system,” he contended.

Pascrell pointed to legal challenges against Mexico’s new labor law, which was passed in May. “The content of the lawsuits pending against labor reform matters, matters more than the number of lawsuits that have been dismissed,” he said, adding that the implementation of the law would require a major overhaul. “A few extra inspectors is not enough.”

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), a co-chair of the USMCA working group’s enforcement task force, said the talks between the group and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative were continuing in “good faith.”

The negotiations, she continued, would have been “shut down a long time ago” if they weren’t going well. “Everything is on the table,” she said during the same event, referring to requests made by labor groups since the renegotiation of NAFTA began.

AFL-CIO International Department Director Cathy Feingold cited several political and logistical challenges in implementing Mexico’s labor law, including funding -- several Democrats and labor advocates have lamented López Obrador's labor budget plans for 2020 -- and the “enormous undertaking” of eradicating what are known as protection contracts. Such contracts are agreements signed between an employer and a union without the consent of the company's workers.

“That is an enormous undertaking: You have to re-run the contracts, workers need to know what’s in them, they need to vote for them -- there’s a whole process,” she said, citing approximately 700,000 contracts in existence. “So, we must ensure that the labor law reform is funded in Mexico, that there is the political will to get it done and that the institutional structures are supported.”

The political challenges are huge, she said, noting that much of the implementation work will fall to states, some led by political parties other than López Obrador's.

“Many of the states are still controlled by a different political party than the one that [López Obrador] represents,” she said. “About 46 percent of the labor law reform implementation will come down to the state level. So, this is a huge political question."

Ben Davis, director of international affairs for United Steelworkers, said additional capacity-building assistance would be needed to ensure adequate implementation. “You can’t create a democratic trade union movement from above -- you can’t do it from outside,” he said. “It has to be done by working people in their workplaces.”

DeLauro, who met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Wednesday, said monitoring and technical assistance details were “still under discussion.”

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Tuesday told reporters the labor federation wanted to see three issues addressed in House Democrats’ labor negotiations with USTR: ensuring Mexico can enforce its labor reform laws, ending parties' ability to block dispute-settlement panels and incorporating a mechanism pitched by Sens. Ron Wyden (OR) and Sherrod Brown (OH) to block products produced “under violation” from entering the U.S.

Trumka met with the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Tuesday, and with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Ways & Means Chairman Richard Neal on Monday.

Neal, who is leading the working group, said the meeting with Trumka this week was “very helpful,” adding “the differences continue to narrow.”

Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), a co-chair of the USMCA working group’s labor task force, said the meeting with Trumka was “rather positive” but added that “his job is always to push the brakes while our job is to get as much as we can.”

Pascrell, who is not a member of the working group, lamented what he called a lack of transparency in the USMCA talks.

“I am going to attempt over the next three weeks and the next three weeks after that to make it a point that the public know what the hell is going on,” Pascrell said. “Give me a chance to fight my way through, tell me what’s going on. I’m on the subcommittee and I intend to follow through.”

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826

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