Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Publication
Articles 1 - 9 of 9
Full-Text Articles in Labor Relations
Regional Integration And Transnational Politics: Popular Sector Strategies In The Nafta Era, Maria Lorena Cook
Regional Integration And Transnational Politics: Popular Sector Strategies In The Nafta Era, Maria Lorena Cook
Maria Lorena Cook
[Excerpt] This chapter argues that although economic integration between the United States and Mexico had been taking place for some time, it was the formal recognition of this process as represented by the discussions surrounding the North American Free Trade Agreement that facilitated transnational political action by non-state actors. Whereas the globalization of the economy and the prevalence of neoliberal economic policies may be considered by some to undermine popular sector organization and actions, formal recognition of regional economic integration in North America has produced a ‘transnational political’ arena that has expanded the resources available to non-governmental groups, increased their …
Les Relations Industrielles Mexicaines Et La Democratic Dans Le Context De L'Alena [Mexican Industrial Relations And Democracy Under Nafta], Maria Lorena Cook
Les Relations Industrielles Mexicaines Et La Democratic Dans Le Context De L'Alena [Mexican Industrial Relations And Democracy Under Nafta], Maria Lorena Cook
Maria Lorena Cook
Le Mexique est presentement en train de vivre une importante transition, qu'il s'agisse de son modele de developpement economique ou de son systeme politique. Sur le plan economique, le Mexique est passe d'un modele d'industrialisation sous une logique de substitution d'importations par des biens domestiques, modele forge dans les annees 30 et 40, a une strategie de developpement axee sur l'exportation et basee sur un modele neo-liberal. Sur le plan politique, le regime mexicain a subi de tres fortes pressions pour que son systeme, de type autoritaire, domine depuis plus de 60 ans par le Parti revolutionnaire institutionnel (PRI), fasse …
Making Free Trade More Fair: Developments In Protecting Labor Rights, Maria Lorena Cook, Morley Gunderson, Mark Thompson, Anil Verma
Making Free Trade More Fair: Developments In Protecting Labor Rights, Maria Lorena Cook, Morley Gunderson, Mark Thompson, Anil Verma
Maria Lorena Cook
[Excerpt] The IRRA-NAFTA Committee was first appointed in 1995 by then president, Walter Gershenfeld, to make a report to the membership on the industrial relations implications of NAFTA and other trade-related developments. The Committee's mandate was renewed in 1996 by president Hoyt Wheeler. In this year's report the committee focused on some of the attempts that are underway to improve protection of labor interests under free trade conditions. This is a summary of the longer full report available upon request from the IRRA National Office.
Integración Regional Y Políticas Transnacionales: Eitlc Y Las Estrategias Del Sector Popular En México, Maria Lorena Cook
Integración Regional Y Políticas Transnacionales: Eitlc Y Las Estrategias Del Sector Popular En México, Maria Lorena Cook
Maria Lorena Cook
En la era del TLC se han creado nuevos intereses, recursos, aliados y arenas para la acción estratégica tanto de actors gubernamentales como no gubernamentales. Si muchas organizaciones populares vieron en el TLC una continuación de la desigualdad, sin embargo también encontraron una coyuntura para la emergencia de coaliciones transnacionales de corte popular. Así se formaron redes de apoyo entre trabajadores mexicanos y estadounidenses. Muchas organizaciones no gubermentales vencieron su desconfianza hacia los vecinos del norte. Hubo apoyo mutuo para presionar al Congreso de Estados Unidos. Con el debate en torno al TLC cambió no tanto el desarrollo institucional ni …
National Labor Strategies In Changing Environments: Perspectives From Mexico, Maria Lorena Cook
National Labor Strategies In Changing Environments: Perspectives From Mexico, Maria Lorena Cook
Maria Lorena Cook
[Excerpt] This essay will look at the evolution of Mexican trade unions' strategies in response to changes in their political-economic environment over a period of nearly twenty-five years. The purpose of the essay is to determine which factors proved most important in shaping trade union responses to environmental changes over time, and to note how the recent economic opening and regional integration represented by NAFTA have thus far affected and are likely to affect in the future labor unions' capacity to respond to such challenges. The Mexican case is of special importance in the Latin American context due to the …
Another Look At Nafta, Lance A. Compa
Another Look At Nafta, Lance A. Compa
Lance A Compa
"Weak," "toothless," "worthless" and "a farce"—these were some of the epithets applied to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) labor side accord negotiated by the United States, Mexico, and Canada in 1993. Trade unionists and labor rights supporters were upset, first by the text of the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC) when it appeared, then by early experiences after it went into effect on January 1, 1994. But those wanting progress on labor rights and standards in international trade should be careful of making some idealized “best” the enemy of the good.
The Art Of Ignoring Impatient Elephants, Lance A. Compa
The Art Of Ignoring Impatient Elephants, Lance A. Compa
Lance A Compa
[Excerpt] Migrant labour was the elephant in the room when American, Mexican and Canadian negotiators hammered out the North American Free Trade Agreement last year. The elephant is still in the room, as negotiators now try to work out a "side agreement" on labour rights and labour standards to fulfill a campaign promise by President Bill Clinton. They never mention migrant worker rights, the single biggest issue affecting labour standards and labour conditions on the North American continent.
International Labor Rights And The Sovereignty Question: Nafta And Guatemala, Two Case Studies, Lance A. Compa
International Labor Rights And The Sovereignty Question: Nafta And Guatemala, Two Case Studies, Lance A. Compa
Lance A Compa
[Excerpt] Labor rights advocates in the United States and allied organizations abroad attempting to establish international fair labor standards run up against traditional notions of sovereignty in formulating national labor policies and development strategies. In the same way that entrenched sovereignty principles gradually yielded to international human rights claims after World War E, sovereignty is now being challenged by claims of international laborrights in the field of employment standards and industrial relations. This Article seeks to illuminate this challenge to sovereignty in two case studies of labor rights advocacy. Part I sets the stage with an overview of the growing …
Comparing The Naalc And The European Union Social Charter (Transcript), Lance A. Compa
Comparing The Naalc And The European Union Social Charter (Transcript), Lance A. Compa
Lance A Compa
This is a transcript of Professor Lance Compa’s presentation to the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation Conference held in Washington, DC on November 12, 1996 and published in the American University Journal of International Law and Policy. [Excerpt] After all of the excellent comments this morning and so far this afternoon, both from the panelists and from the floor, I am not sure that I can say anything new about the NAALC. So, what I want to do in this intervention is add some comparative discussion with respect to the European Union and the social charter of the European …