Today, Colombian trade unionists, representatives from the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), the Escuela Nacional Sindical (ENS, Colombia’s National Union School) and the AFL-CIO participated in a panel discussion on the implementation of the Colombian Action Plan Related to Labor Rights. The panelists reached a grim conclusion—so far, the Labor Action Plan (LAP) has failed to stop serious labor and human rights violations in Colombia, even though the U.S. government has declared it a success and has allowed the related Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to go into effect.  

Colombian workers, union leaders and the director of Colombia's national union school will take part in a panel discussion at AFL-CIO headquarters tomorrow following the release of a new report by the AFL-CIO on the Labor Action Plan that was intended to reduce the violence directed at Colombian workers and union activists and increase their ability to exercise basic labor rights such as free association and collective bargaining.  

The Labor Action Plan was negotiated to ease the passage of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. The AFL-CIO and allies successfully held off the vote for years over Colombia's troubling human rights record. Colombia has been the deadliest nation in the world for trade unionists. Thirty were slain in 2011 and another 10 were killed already this year. Impunity from prosecution for such killings remains high, at around 95 percent.

Join noted journalist Timothy Noah at the AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C., this Friday, July 20, at 12 p.m. for a discussion of his new book, The Great Divergence: America’s Growing Inequality Crisis and What We Can Do About It. Noah will explain how the Great Divergence has come about, why it threatens American democracy—and what we can do to reverse it.

Books will be available for purchase and for author signing. (“Rise of the Stinking Rich” is my vote for the best-named chapter in his book.)

Be sure to RSVP for the event here.

U.S. voters across the political spectrum overwhelming have negative views of companies that outsource jobs to China and strongly support Buy America provisions, according to a poll released today by the Alliance for American Manufacturing. Voters also say strengthening manufacturing in the United States is a top economic priority and they back the creation of a national manufacturing strategy to better compete with foreign nations that already have them in place.

Jeff Faux, Distinguished Fellow at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), joined us here today at the AFL-CIO to discuss his new book, The Servant Economy: Where America’s Elite is Sending the Middle Class. The event launches the AFL-CIO summer book series, which includes discussions with noted economists who will talk about their new books on jobs, inequality and the U.S. financial crisis. (Get details and RSVP here.)

In his last book, The Global Class War, Faux in 2006 correctly predicted the permanent decline of our debt-burdened middle class at the hands of our off-shoring executives, out of control financiers and their friends in Washington. So we asked Faux a few questions about what his latest analyses and predictions in The Servant Economy.

As CEO at Bain Capital, Mitt Romney earned “jaw-dropping profits” by closing U.S. factories, laying off hundreds of workers, sending those jobs overseas and stashing money in offshore tax havens.

Union members and the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council (SDICLC) dropped off a stack of petitions (almost 90,000 signatures) to Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiators at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront on Monday, calling for a fair trade deal that works for Americans. U.S. Trade Representative Carol Guthrie accepted the petitions on behalf of the negotiators. TPP should promote job creation, respect labor and human rights, protect the sovereign right of nations to make public interest policy and preserves the ability to Buy American. 

Whirlpool Corp. closed its Fort Smith Arkansas refrigerator factory on June 29 laying off  826 hourly workers and eight salaried employees. More than a week later, a group of 30 union members, elected officials and political candidates met at the United Steelworkers hall in Fort Smith to voice support for the Bring Jobs Home Act. 

If anyone thinks U.S. manufacturing isn’t relevant to our lives today, they should consider this report from the Alliance for American Manufacturers pointing to the battle against raging wildfires in the western states:

The Associated Press is reporting that the sole U.S. manufacturer of a device to spray airborne fire retardant is no longer in business. This means that while Air National Guard units currently possess Modular Airborne Firefighting Systems (MAFFS), new MAFFS systems are no longer being made. This has led to concerns that future efforts to fight wildfires in the western U.S. may be hampered.

Meanwhile, says House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.):

Our overseas competitors are doubling down on investments in their workforces, in innovation, and in providing the tools that nurture manufacturing growth. Not only are other countries surging ahead in the number of engineers and scientists they graduate, but they are pouring money into basic research and technology development.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, sounds like a friendly little cooperative endeavor, doesn't it?  Or maybe a new kind of bathroom tissue?   Well, it's neither of those things.  It's a proposed "free trade agreement," like NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), but with 11 countries instead of three. The negotiations, held at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, brought out almost 200 union members along with allies from Occupy San Diego, La Fuerza Unida, Friends of the Earth and other groups on Monday to express concern about the possible ramifications to their jobs, their families and the American economy.  Trade negotiators from the U.S. were at the Hilton all week working on the negotiations with representatives from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.  Mexico and Canada were recently added to the TPP—but have not yet participated in the talks.