NAFTA, CAFTA, Colombia FTA and Workers' Rights

Tuesday, March 17, 2009
9:00 - 11:00 AM
[registration for this event has closed]

NAFTA, CAFTA, Colombia FTA and Workers' Rights:
Lessons Learned and Directions for a New Framework for Trade and Labor in Latin America

Co-sponsored by the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), the Global Policy Network (GPN), and the Economic Policy Institute (EPI)

A panel discussion featuring:

• Introduction by Rep. Mike Michaud

• Bama Athreya, Executive Director, International Labor Rights Forum, will provide an overview of past and future labor provisions in free trade agreements

• Patricia Juan Pineda, General Counsel for Mexico’s independent union, the FAT, will discuss the failures of NAFTA’s labor side agreement and the declining situation for workers in Mexico

• Omar Salazar Alvarado, Executive Director of the leading Central America labor rights NGO, ASEPROLA, will discuss the labor chapter of CAFTA, access to justice in Central America and the murdering of union leaders in Panama

• Francisco Ramirez Cuellar, Colombian Human Rights Lawyer and President of Sintraminercol, Colombia’s Coal Miners’ Union will discuss the increased use of violence against union leaders in Colombia, while sharing his personal experiences as a human rights activist.

Commentators:
• Mark A. Levinson, Chief Economist, UNITE-HERE

• Jeff Vogt, Global Economic Policy Specialist, AFL-CIO

Location:
Economic Policy Institute, 1333 H Street, NW, Suite 300, East Tower, Washington, DC
(near McPherson Square Metro and Metro Center)
(Please note the street address; some invitations were sent with an incorrect address)

For additional information about this event, please call 202-533-2555. For registration support, contact  events@epi.org.