NAFTA's Labor Side Agreement: Lessons From the First
Three Years, a new 27 page report published jointly by
the Institute for Policy Studies and the International
Labor Rights Fund, analyzes the performance of NAFTA
institutions in handling complaints regarding labor
rights violations. Written by American University law
professor Jerome Levinson, the report focuses on the
case in which the Mexican government suppressed the
efforts of a group of workers to form an independent
union at a Sony plant in Nuevo Laredo. It concludes
that the labor side deal has failed to fulfill
President Clinton's promise that NAFTA would provide
effective mechanisms to ensure Mexico's enforcement of
its own labor laws. You can get it for $7.50 plus
$1.50 shipping and handling from IPS, 1601 Connecticut
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009; phone: 202-234-9382;
fax: 202-387-7915.
-- Labor Report on the Americas
November-December 1996
