CAFTA Labor Complaint on Guatemala

Guatemala offers the first test of the ability of CAFTA (Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement) to protect worker rights.  In April 2008, the AFL-CIO and six Guatemalan trade unions filed with the US government a CAFTA labor complaint against Guatemala.  

The complaint uses several case studies to document illegal firings, failure to bargain in good faith, health and safety violations, and violence against trade unionists in Guatemala.  After three years of little progress, the Obama Administration said in August 2011 that it would take Guatemala to arbitration but the governments subsequently resumed closed door negotiations that continued as of the end of 2011.  The very limited actions taken by the Guatemalan government over this lengthy period indicate that CAFTA’s penalties for failing to address labor rights violations, including murder, are not feared, especially by employers.

U.S. Colombian Free Trade Agreement

The U.S. and Colombia signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2006 it stalled for five years in Congress primarily because of Democratic concerns about violence against trade unionists and pervasive impunity.  The Agreement was approved in October 2011 despite a lack of recent progress on violence.  Congress also approved Free Trade Agreements with Panaman and South Korea. 

TransPacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement

The Obama Administration has begun negotiations for a TransPacific Partnership (TPP) FTA involving the US, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Vietnam, Chile, Singapore and Peru.  It would be the first FTA negotiated by the Obama Administration and as such will demonstrate to what degree the Administration is prepared to honor the President’s campaign promises for a new deal on trade, or whether the Administration will settle for a variation of the flawed NAFTA and CAFTA models.  Also at stake is whether the Administration will seek to strengthen labor protections.

Anti-FTA advocates and members of Congress have rallied around the TRADE Act, the Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act, which calls for a more balanced way to expand trade.  For more information about the TPP and the TRADE Act, see the Citizens Trade Campaign.

"Fast Track" Trade Authority

Under "Fast Track," Congress is not able to make amendments to trade agreements. The Administration negotiates the terms of the agreement and Congress can only approve or reject an agreement as negotiated. On June 30, 2007, Congress alllowed "fast track" to expire. Without "fast track," it is considered nearly impossible for an Administration to negotiate and pass new trade agreements. Eventual renewal of "fast track" will effectively set U.S. policy on key rules for the global economy in the next round of trade agreements. "Fast track" paved the way for passage of NAFTA, CAFTA, and the most recent agreements with Peru, Colombia, South Korea, and Panama. The Obama Administration said when it entered office that it would not ask for "fast track"authority before undertaking extensive consultations about future directions for U.S. trade policy but it has since then begun negotiations for a TransPacific Partnership Agreement (TPP).