Latin America

Judi Lynn

(160,631 posts) Sat Apr 7, 2012, 02:24 AM Apr 2012

AFL-CIO Joins Honduran Unions in Petitioning US Labor Department

AFL-CIO Joins Honduran Unions in Petitioning US Labor Department
posted 1-April-2012

Honduras Weekly
AFL-CIO Joins Honduran Unions in Petitioning US Labor Department
30 March 2012 00:00

AFL-CIO/This week the AFL-CIO joined the main Honduran trade unions to file a petition with the United States Department of Labor’s Public Office of Trade & Labor Affairs (OTLA) concerning the failure of the government of Honduras to effectively enforce its labor laws and comply with its commitments under the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).

According to the complaint, six years after the trade agreement with the United States and Honduras entered into full force workers have seen little meaningful enforcement of their labor rights, as national labor laws are ineffective and violated with impunity.

“There have been repeated and well-documented violations of workers’ rights, and the Honduran government has utterly failed to address these violations,” said AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka. “The petition reflects the long-term cooperation and commitment of the AFL-CIO and the Honduran labor movement to promote and protect worker rights.”

The petition focuses on the Honduran government’s failure to enforce labor laws in three export-related sectors: manufacturing, agriculture, and port operations. The petition also notes that workers in Honduras have continued to see violations of their rights of freedom of association, collective bargaining and acceptable conditions of work under national and international law. Many workers don’t have access to fair and efficient administrative or judicial tribunals. Child labor, particularly in the agricultural sector, is also a serious concern.

More:
http://www.bilaterals.org/spip.php?article21279

2 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

AFL-CIO Joins Honduran Unions in Petitioning US Labor Department (Original Post) Judi Lynn Apr 2012 OP

Love it! Trying to get the rich & powerful to play by their own rules! Peace Patriot Apr 2012 #1

About time. nt bemildred Apr 2012 #2

Peace Patriot

(24,010 posts)

1. Love it! Trying to get the rich & powerful to play by their own rules!

Reply to Judi Lynn (Original post)

Sat Apr 7, 2012, 10:39 AM

Apr 2012

This reminds me of the WTO--when "third world" countries, led by Brazil, tried to get fair play on trade rules from the U.S. and other "first world" liars and bullies. U.S. "free trade for the rich" was NEVER INTENDED TO BE FAIR. It was/is intended to maximize the profits of big, U.S.-based and allied corporate MONOPOLIES, at the expense of poor countries, workers and small businesses everywhere.

Take Jamaica, for instance, where Big U.S. Ag dumped cheap powdered milk on the market to destroy local dairy farms, or Haiti, where Big U.S. Ag dumped cheap rice on the market to destroy Haiti's MAIN export. The result of these crimes is endemic poverty--and its main goal is to cripple and destroy democracy. A country that cannot feed itself, a country where small local businesses are crushed, a country where individual initiative--whether of workers, businesses or community organizers--is, time and again, suppressed, cannot govern itself and cannot protect its people from exploitation.

This is the PURPOSE of U.S. "free trade for the rich"--to crush democracy itself, here and there.

Honduras is a typecase of U.S. "free trade for the rich," complete with a U.S.-supported rightwing/military coup, a U.S. State Department rigged election and hundreds of murders of trade unionists, human rights workers, community organizers, small farmers and other advocates of the poor.

And I just love the AFL-CIO turning this around and saying, "Okay, you bastards, how about the FREEDOM of workers to ORGANIZE?! Huh? Huh? LIARS!"

bemildred

(90,061 posts)

2. About time. nt

Reply to Judi Lynn (Original post)

Sat Apr 7, 2012, 10:43 AM

Apr 2012

Reply to this discussion