The Trans-Pacific Partnership: A Positive Or Negative For Workers?

Labor provisions are among the most controversial dimensions of modern trade agreements. That’s been true in every major US free trade agreement since NAFTA; and the latest agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), includes expanded and more ambitious provisions, particularly in regard to forced labor and freedom of association in developing countries.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is a free trade agreement negotiated by nine countries—the United States, Australia, Brunei, Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam—that will write the rules for global trade among those nations.

The impact of the TPP’s labor provisions, including potential impact on trade and government enforcement of labor laws, is the subject of the latest Takeaway policy paper produced by the Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics and Public Policy at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University.

Labor standards address issues about the way workers are treated, such as rights to organize and strike, health and safety conditions, minimum wages, and working hours. In the policy paper, Dr. Raymond Robertson, a professor in the Department of International Affairs at the Bush School, explores the background and potential impact of including labor standards in trade agreements.

“Over time, labor provisions have expanded in their ambition and coverage,” says Robertson. “While earlier agreements were more likely to focus on a nation’s domestic labor laws, more recent agreements are more likely to reference both domestic and international standards and include provisions for remedies when these standards are not followed.”

Continue reading on the Bush School website.