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Showing blog posts tagged with trade

29 of 76 Unionists Murdered in 2011 Were Colombian

29 of 76 Unionists Murdered in 2011 Were Colombian

Despite promises made in the Colombian Action Plan Related to Labor Rights, Colombia continues to be the most dangerous place to be a union member.

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the main international trade union organization, just released its annual survey of violations of trade union rights. The report, which comes shortly after the Colombia Free Trade Agreement went into effect, summarizes violations of trade union rights around the world—and its findings on Colombia are grim.

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Canadian Company’s Attempt to Use U.S. Trade Law to Mine in El Salvador Fails

Institute for Policy Studies

Pacific Rim Cayman LLC, the mining company determined to extract gold along the banks of El Salvador’s Lempa River, has failed in its
attempt to use the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) to force the Salvadoran government to allow it to mine in the region. El Salvador has opposed Pacific Rim’s plans because the process threatens cyanide leakage into the Lempa River, whose basin covers 49 percent of the territory of El Salvador and is the main water source for a majority of the nation’s population.

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Wind Tower Trade Case Belies Bigger Stakes

The Department of Commerce's announcement of a preliminary countervailing duty (CVD) determination last week against wind towers from China is an important step in maintaining and expanding U.S. production in wind energy. Clean energy production and manufacturing have been a priority of the Obama administration. It also has been a target of the Chinese government’s five-year plan. U.S. trade actions need to be complimented by a manufacturing strategy.

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U.S. Unions Urge Colombia to Protect Workers' Rights--and Lives

The AFL-CIO and several individual unions, including the Machinists, the Steelworkers, Mine Workers and Food and Commercial Workers in recent days met with leadership of the new Colombian Labor Inspectorate and Department of Labor officials, to discuss how the inspectorate is working to promote and protect workers' rights in Colombia—and what it is doing to make sure workers who exercise their rights can do so without putting their lives on the line.

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U.S. Will Investigate Honduran Workers’ Rights Violations Charges

Soldiers break up demonstration protesting murders of 17 Honduran journalists. Photo by Esther Vargas/flickr

The U.S. government will investigate charges that the government of Honduras has failed to address “repeated and well-documented violations of workers' rights.” Those charges were made in a petition filed in March by the AFL-CIO and major Honduran trade unions with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Trade and Labor Affairs (OTLA).

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Violence, Threats Increase in Colombia Ahead of Trade Deal Start

What’s going on in Colombia? Since the announcement that the U.S.-Colombia Trade Agreement would enter into force on May 15, the violence and threats against human and workers' rights advocates actually have increased. Rather than advancing human rights in Colombia, the implementation announcement seems to be increasing the complacency of the Colombian government—and having devastating effects on Colombia’s population.

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Trumka: Manufacturing Revival Vital to Strong National Security

Center for National Policy

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka today said our national security depends on reviving the nation’s manufacturing and industrial base. He called for adding 4 million manufacturing jobs and eliminating the trade deficit within five years.  

In a wide-ranging speech at the Center for National Policy (CNP), Trumka said economic strength is crucial to America’s national security and economic standing, and manufacturing is central to economic strength. That’s a connection that most people understand, he said.

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House Dems, GOP Agree on Export-Import Bank Bill

House Democrats and Republicans have reached an agreement to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank through 2014. Its charter is due to expire May 31. The bank provides loan guarantees to foreign corporations to purchase U.S.-made goods and services. In 2011, financing from the Export-Import Bank helped 3,600 private companies add nearly 300,000 jobs across the country.

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