Posted: Saturday, 26 May 2007

The links between diminishing respect for workers’ rights, and liberalized trade and investment have been discussed for at least ten years. These discussions have revolved around the assertion that trade agreements trump international conventions assuring workers’ rights, the debate over the effectiveness of including measures to protect worker’s rights within free trade agreements, and the impact of free-flowing trade and investment on the availability of decent jobs in various countries.

This workshop will provide a brief overview of these discussions, followed by an exploration of a new link between workers’ rights and trade liberalization: the global integration of labour markets. Earlier free trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement explicitly barred the free-flow of labour across borders while facilitating the free-flow of corporations and commodities.

Breaking from this approach, governments today are increasingly negotiating the free-flow of workers in a host of sectors, for example through the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). These negotiations, however, do not make reference to any of the existing conventions on migrant workers’ rights, specifically those of the United Nations and the International Labour Organization.

How have unions around the world been responding to these developments?

What is the potential of creating new forms of North-South solidarity through the interconnected struggle for migrant workers’ rights and people-oriented trade and development? These questions and others will be discussed within the workshop.

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