(Washington, DC, February 16, 2016) – On a conference call today, Cathy Feingold, AFL-CIO Director of International Affairs and Celeste Drake, AFL-CIO Trade Policy Specialist, discussed a new AFL-CIO report on the lack of adequate labor rights provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
“Calling the TPP’s labor rights provisions a gold standard is a mirage,” said Drake. “We know from experience that the discretionary dispute settlement model does not work for vulnerable workers, and the highly touted ‘new’ labor provisions do not provide meaningful new protections for abused and exploited workers.”
Feingold also talked about the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit that President Obama is hosting and the TPP implications.
“The consistency plans fall woefully short of ensuring that all 12 TPP countries will be in full compliance with the TPP’s labor standard on Day One of the agreement,” said Feingold. “Vietnam will get a five-year free pass to deny freedom of association and there is no plan for Mexico at all. This problem would be compounded if countries such as Thailand and Cambodia join the TPP without first affording all of their workers fundamental worker rights and acceptable conditions of work.”
Contact: Carolyn Bobb (202) 637-5018