U.S., Canadian Union Federations Urge Cooperation in Talks Today

by Tula Connell, Feb 19, 2009

As President Obama meets with Canada’s leaders today for the first time to discuss a range of key bilateral and global issues, the heads of the United States and Canadian trade federations are urging both countries to: 

• Work cooperatively to address the current global economic crisis.
• Review and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
• Adopt a series of complementary policies necessary to build a strong, fair economy for workers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The AFL-CIO and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) sent to President Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper a letter in which they emphasize the role of working people throughout the process:

For too long, working people in both countries have been excluded from the decision-making processes that fundamentally affect their lives, as decisions were often made in the backrooms of power among elites. We ask both governments to commit to address these issues through ongoing consultations that are open, inclusive and fully transparent. This is the only way that a progressive vision of North America will take hold.

Obama ran for president on a platform supporting the enforceable labor and environmental protections in NAFTA, and voters last November sent to Congress at least 34 new House member and five new senators who called for major changes in trade policy, according to a report by the Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch.

The two union federations say the credible exit threat posed by U.S., Canadian (and now Mexican) employers has further limited the ability of workers to demand better wages and working conditions in line with productivity growth. They say strengthening NAFTA effectiveness in promoting and enforcing labor rights must involve: 

• Adherence to the International Labor Organization (ILO) core conventions, as well as effective enforcement of domestic labor laws.
• The overhaul of dispute resolution procedures concerning a violation of any of NAFTA’s labor and environmental obligations to ensure full, fair and expeditious resolutions.
• The political will of each government to act upon the findings and recommendations that result from the dispute settlement process. Failure to act upon those recommendations should be subject to immediate and dissuasive fines or sanctions.

Says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney:

President Obama fully appreciates the gravity of the global economic crisis and knows that our recovery will come through the rebuilding of a strong middle class with good jobs for all. We urge the United States, Canada, and Mexico to work together to build a stronger and more equitable North American economy,  where workers’ voices are heard and their rights are fully respected.

Noting that working people in both the United States and Canada are being hit hard by an economic crisis that was not of their making,” Canadian Labour Congress President Ken Georgetti says workers

are paying a terrible price for the unfettered greed and recklessness of a corporate elite upon whose advice our political leaders have relied for too long. Now is the time for a different approach; one that includes working people and shifts the focus towards their prosperity.

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