As trade ministers from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the United States launch negotiations towards a regional free trade agreement today, the AFL-CIO and Central American trade unions joined together to demand that respect for workers’ rights and progress towards equitable, sustainable development be at the core of any trade agreement among their countries. This marks the first time that major Central American unions and the American union movement have released a joint declaration specifically addressing trade among their countries. The landmark declaration offers a shared vision for economic integration in the region and inserts workers’ voices back into the global trade debate -- a voice that is completely unrepresented in the trade talks.

“In the face of a stumbling economy and high unemployment throughout the region, our governments are pursuing a free-trade agenda that feeds corporate greed but destroys good jobs and hinders real development,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. “Workers in the U.S. and Central America have a better plan for a new generation of trade rules that will respect our rights, preserve our environment and strengthen our economies.”    

The declaration rejects a simple expansion of the failed model of the North American Free Trade Agreement, under which the U.S. has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs and Mexico has failed to achieve lasting development or reduce poverty. The joint statement calls for enforceable protections for workers’ rights backed up by trade sanctions, a more humane immigration regime, debt relief for Central American nations and transparency in the negotiation process, among other reforms.

The joint declaration comes on the heels of AFL-CIO petitions to withdraw preferential trade benefits from Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala on the basis of egregious workers’ rights violations in these countries. Though these petitions are supported by unions in Central America and have been valuable tools for improving workers’ rights in the past, the petition process will no longer be available if a free trade agreement with the region goes into effect.

For a copy of the joint declaration, contact Lane Windham at (202) 637-5018.