How Canada is Using NAFTA to Demand Protection for U.S. Workers
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21 Sep How Canada is Using NAFTA to Demand Protection for U.S. Workers

Posted at 15:04h in AFL-CIO, NAFTA, Trade by

Finally, after nearly a quarter of a century, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)Β is beingΒ renegotiated.

And while NAFTA negotiations haveΒ not progressed very far, and it is too early to say whether the effort will bring a New Economic Deal to working people or simplyΒ more crony capitalism, there was someΒ fantastic, surprising, excellentΒ news recently.

The Canadian negotiating team didΒ something big: They told the U.S. negotiators that U.S. laws that interfere with people’s freedom to negotiate on the job are dragging down standards for Canada and need to be abolished. Guess what?Β Canada is right. Β Canadian negotiators are pushing the U.S. to do away with anti-labor policies Β like β€œright to work.”

The most infamous of these laws is referred to, bogusly, as right-to-work. Really, it’s right-to-bankrupt labor unions and right-to-cut workers’ pay. These laws forbid corporations and labor unions from negotiating collective bargaining agreements that require payments in lieu of dues from workers who choose not to join the union. These payments, which are typically less than full dues, cover the costs that unions incur to bargain contracts and pursue worker grievances.

β€”Β 9/8/17 Huffington Post

Read more about Canadian negotiators efforts from Celeste Drake’s post on the AFL-CIO blog here.

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