TPP Partners Must Show Labor Reform Before US Implementation Bill Surfaces, Says Levin
All other Trans-Pacific Partnership countries should change domestic laws to meet TPP labor standards before the Obama administration sends a TPP implementation bill to Congress, said House Ways and Means ranking member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., in the latest blog post in his ongoing series on TPP (here). TPP countries should also pull together panels of experts to monitor the implementation of the labor provisions, he said.
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The TPP deal is an “opportunity” to improve labor conditions in Vietnam, Mexico, Malaysia and Brunei by forcing those countries to adopt the basic rights framework of the International Labor Organization, said Levin. Those rights include the freedom to associate, safeguards for collective bargaining, a ban on mandatory labor and child labor and elimination of workplace discrimination. These rights also make up the labor portion of the May 10th Agreement (here). Levin said it may be possible to tack on even more measures, such as a minimum wage.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative gave House Democrats a classified briefing on TPP labor in recent days (see 1503190001). The AFL-CIO tore into labor rights in Vietnam, Mexico, Malaysia and Brunei in late February (see 1502260056).