Catherwood LibraryILR School

American, Mexican, and Canadian representatives are currently discussing the U.S.’s new draft text on labor standards as the member countries of NAFTA meet in Ottawa to modernize the trade agreement. One of the main concerns being addressed at this meeting is how workers, especially auto workers, in Canada and the U.S. are suffering severe downward pressure on their wages due to Mexican labor’s ability to work for less. The lax to nonexistent enforcement of collective bargaining agreements and international labor laws in Mexico has not only hurt workers in NAFTA’s other member countries but also Mexican workers who are forced to work in hazardous conditions for substandard wages that leave them and their families perpetually in poverty. Canadian officials have made strong claims against the U.S.’s draft text, stating that the U.S. proposal is inadequate and too weak to bring about any change in labor conditions while Mexican officials maintain that labor market regulation and workers’ rights issues be handled by each country on an individual and internal level.