Los estándares laborales y el Área de Libre Comercio de las Américas

Abstract

The Miami Summit launching the Free Trade Area of the Americas process recognized that free markets and free societies work best when they work together. The core labor —standards freedom of association and the right to organize and bargain collectively; freedom from forced labor; the abolition of child labor; and freedom from discrimination— are fundamental rights and, in an environment that promotes democracy and market–oriented economies, as the FTAA is intended to do, there is no trade– off between these principles and development; indeed, they become mutually reinforcing. A review of International Labor Organization information on implementation of core labor standards in the hemisphere suggests that there is substantial room for progress, including in export sectors. Recent developments in the treatment of labor issues in US trade agreements also suggests that labor standards cannot be ignored if an FTAA agreement is to gain approval in the US Congress.