North American Labor Ministers Meet to Discuss Progress on NAFTA Labor Commission

WASHINGTON, DC, September 18 – The Secretaries of Labor of the United States and Mexico and Canada's Labour Minister held their fourth annual meeting today in Washington and acknowledged the "substantially increased cooperation" that has taken place in the labor area since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed in 1993.

The meeting was held under the auspices of the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC) negotiated as a complement to the NAFTA in 1993. U.S. Secretary of Labor, Alexis M. Herman hosted the event at the State Department.

"President Clinton and I are committed to protecting worker rights in North America," Secretary Herman said. "This is my first opportunity to work directly with Minister MacAulay and Secretary Bonilla and I look forward to a constructive relationship and continued cooperation on labor issues."

Canada's Minister of Labour, Lawrence MacAulay, expressed his optimism for the future of labor cooperation in North America.

"This Agreement has encouraged more cooperation and dialogue on major workplace questions than we could have anticipated in our three countries," MacAulay said. "We are committed to continuing to intensify this spirit of cooperation in order to improve living standards and working conditions for everyone across North America."

Mexican Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare, Javier Bonilla said, "The international economic context of globalization involves businesses and labor unions in a constant search for new, dynamic ways to organize work. Building on different national realities, the NAFTA countries have developed in the NAALC an effective way to cooperate to benefit workers."

The Annual meeting of the Council of the Commission for Labor Cooperation provides North American labor ministers an opportunity to discuss labor issues facing the three nations.

The Quebec Minister of Labour, Mr. Matthias Rioux, also participated in the meeting in his capacity as co-chair of the Canadian Intergovernmental Committee. He stated that given the extent of provincial power over labor relations and working conditions, he was pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to the development and improvement of the NAALC.

Major initiatives at this year's meeting included plans to launch the four-year review of the NAALC. The Ministers agreed on the form of the review, which will involve consulting National Advisory Panels, establishing an independent group of experts to provide their assessment and inviting input from the public in all three countries. The Secretariat will incorporate all the views and comments received into a report to the Council of Ministers.

The Ministers released a Secretariat study entitled "North American Labor Markets: A Comparative Profile." The study provides comparable baseline data and analysis on a wide range of key labor market indicators such as unemployment, productivity, hours of work, and classes of employment. The Ministers also announced rules of procedure for special panels of experts that can be convened under the NAALC. These panels, known as Evaluation Committees of Experts (ECEs) are mandated under the Agreement to conduct comparative analysis of labor law enforcement throughout North America.

The Ministers also approved a cooperative activities program for 1997-1998, which will focus on occupational safety and health; employment and training and labor market information; labor relations and worker rights; and child labor issues. The program will continue to be coordinated by the three countries' National Administrative Offices (NAOs) with the support of the Dallas-based trinational Secretariat.

The Secretariat's Executive Director, John McKennirey, gave an overview of recent activities including the release of two reports, one focusing on plant closings and labor rights, and the comparative labor market report discussed above. He also gave an update on the next annual North American Seminar on Incomes and Productivity scheduled for February, 1998, in Dallas.

"The past year has been a critical one for the Secretariat, I believe information provided by the Secretariat is becoming a new and important resource for workers, companies and the general public on labor issues in the North American context," McKennirey said.

For more information about the Commission and Secretariat publications, including the 1996 Annual Report, consult the Secretariat's website at www.naalc.org or contact the Secretariat at (214) 754-1100.

NAALC Review Process

Article 10:1(a) of the NAALC, provides that: "the Council shall oversee the implementation and develop recommendations on the further elaboration of the NAALC and, to this end, shall, within four years after the date of entry into force of the NAALC, review its operation and effectiveness in light of experience."

The Parties have agreed to the following process for the review:

1. The Secretariat will prepare a general overview of the activities undertaken under the Agreement since coming into force on January 1, 1994, including: cooperative activities, public communications, NAO and Ministerial consultations, and Secretariat reports.
2. Each Party will request comments on the operation and effectiveness of the NAALC from their National and Government Advisory Committees and will transmit these comments to the Secretariat.
3. The Commission will issue an invitation for written public comments to be submitted to the Secretariat or to the National Administrative Offices. Comments received by the NAOs will be transmitted verbatim to the Secretariat.
4. Each Party will choose a non-governmental labor expert from their National Advisory Committee or an alternate chosen by the Party, to serve on a Review Committee, which will provide an independent Advisory Report to the Council on the operation and effectiveness of the NAALC. The Secretariat will provide support to the Review Committee.
5. After the consultation process, the Secretariat shall consolidate the inputs received through the methods discussed above and submit a draft report for consideration by the Council. The draft report should include: (a) the general overview; (b) highlights from the input received in the consultation process including comments from the Executive Director on the operation of the Secretariat; and (c) the Advisory Report of the Review Committee. In preparing the draft report the Secretariat will examine literature related to the NAALC and will identify key issues for consideration by the Council.
6. The Council will consider the above information and issue a "Report on the Review of the NAALC." This final report, including an Executive Summary, will be made available to the public and will include the Review Committee's Advisory Report to Council. The Executive Summary of the Council's Report will be included in the Labor Commission's 1997 Annual Report.