labor

Don't Make a Bad Deal Worse: UE Statement on Renegotiating NAFTA

UE General Executive Board UE
UE's General Executive Board denounced Trump's racist and jingoistic proposals for a renegotion of NAFTA and instead called for a new set of trade policies that prioritize workers common interests and relies on international solidarity as its cornerstone. Any renegotiation of NAFTA must be oriented around the improvement of workers’ lives and protection of the environment focused on those regions of the continent where conditions are the most desperate.

Trump's NAFTA Changes Aren't Much Different from Obama's

Adam Behsudi Politico
“Mostly what I see here is the same corporate wish list and a set of international rules that work quite well for global corporations,” said Celeste Drake, the AFL-CIO’s trade policy specialist.

A Constitution Corrupted

Gavin O'Toole NACLA
Mexico's 1917 Constitution asserted national control over all resources and launched a program of land redistribution. It established the most progressive labor legislation in the world at that time, guaranteeing a minimum wage, the right to strike and collective bargaining, an eight-hour day, an end to child labor, equal pay regardless of sex, and maternity leave. The betrayal of the constitution began early and turned into a rout in the 1980s.by neoliberals.

Trading Rules for Workers

Leo Gerard OurFuture.org
These workers know from bitter experience that CEOs don’t have their best interests in mind. They know the problem with the TPP and NAFTA is that they were drafted by CEOs for the benefit of CEOs and 1 percenter shareholders. Workers never got an equal seat at the negotiating tables.They know that Donald Trump listened to 24 CEOs on Thursday but not one manufacturing worker.

NAFTA has Harmed Mexico Much More Than a Wall Will Ever Do

Mark Weisbrot CounterPunch
About that wall: if the Mexican economy had just continued to grow post-1980, as it did for the two decades prior, Mexicans would have an average income at European levels today. Extremely few Mexicans would take big risks to live or work in the US.

What Donald Trump Can and Can't Do to Immigrants

David Bacon NACLA
Donald Trump's draconian immigration enforcement efforts face a basic challenge: the United States operates within an economic system that profits off immigrant labor. Immigrant labor is more vital to many industries than it's ever been before. Today, about 57% of the country's entire agricultural workforce is undocumented. But the list of other industries dependent on immigrant labor is long.

What Workers at Carrier and Rexnord Have to Say About Trump.

Arun Gupta Raw Story
Time and again workers mention the same issue as to why they abandoned the Democrats: NAFTA. Feltner says, “The NAFTA bill is still fresh in people’s minds. The international was all, ‘Vote Democrat, Democrat, Democrat.’ Then they make an announcement about jobs going away and it’s because of NAFTA. The workers connect that to the Democrats, and Hillary was saddled with that.”

labor

The Union Revolt No One is Talking About

Bob Hennelly US Labor Against the War
This election proved that you overlook the labor movement at your peril. Democrats took rank-and-file union members for granted. They must make labor central to the conversation again .

labor

Being a Mexican Migrant Worker and Female: A Recipe for Double Discrimination

Emilio Godoy Equal Times
The Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc. (CDM – Migrant Rights Centre), accuses Canada of discrimination in hiring and the allocation of work, the general exclusion of women from the temporary work programmes and the failure to ensure compliance with laws against discrimination in employment.

labor

Unions Split as Bitter U.S. Campaign Exposes Divergent Agendas

Tim Jones and Mark Niquette Bloomberg
The split amid an unexpectedly contentious Democratic primary season has exposed contrasting agendas in organized labor. Trade unionists are exercised by international deals, which they blame for the loss of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs. Service workers less affected by globalization advocate collective-bargaining rights and wage protection.
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