II. NAALC Background and Structure

1. The Commission

The Commission, consisting of a ministerial Council and a Secretariat, is an international organization created under the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC).

Through the NAALC, the continental trading partners seek to improve working conditions and living standards, and commit themselves to promoting eleven Labor Principles to protect, enhance and enforce workers' basic rights. To accomplish these goals, the NAALC creates mechanisms for cooperative activities and intergovernmental consultations, as well as for independent evaluations and dispute settlements related to the enforcement of labor laws.

2. The Council

A Cabinet-level ministerial Council and a Secretariat make up the Commission for Labor Cooperation. The Council is composed of the Secretary (in Mexico and the United States) and Minister (in Canada) of Labor of the three NAFTA countries.

Acting as a single entity, the Council oversees the implementation of the NAALC and directs the activities of the Secretariat. The Council also promotes trinational cooperative activities on a broad range of issues involving labor law, labor standards, labor relations and labor markets.

3. The Secretariat

The Council is supported by the Commission's Secretariat based in Dallas, Texas, USA. The Secretariat staff is drawn equally from the three NAFTA countries. It includes labor economists, labor lawyers and other professionals with wide experience in labor affairs in their respective countries. They work in the three languages of North America -- English, French and Spanish -- in a unique multinational institution devoted to advancing labor rights and labor standards as an integral part of expanding trade relations.

a) Secretariat Functions

The Commission's Secretariat has two principal functions, the first of which is devoted to information. It undertakes research and analysis, and prepares public reports on:

• labor law and administrative procedures
• trends related to the application of labor law
• labor market conditions, such as employment rates, average wages and labor productivity
• human resource development issues, such as training and adjustment programs
• other matters as the Council may direct

Second, the Secretariat serves as the general administrative arm of the Commission. It provides support to the Council and to Evaluation Committees of Experts (ECEs) and Arbitral Panels established by the Council. ECEs conduct trinational reviews, with findings and recommendations, on labor law enforcement in specified subject areas. Arbitral Panels resolve disputes among the governments, if any should arise, in connection with the specific obligations in the NAALC.

 The Secretariat must also report on the results of consultations and evaluations carried out under the Agreement.

4. The NAOs

The NAALC also requires each government to establish and maintain a National Administrative Office (NAO) within its labor ministry. The NAOs serve as points of contact and sources of information among themselves, and with other government agencies, the Labor Secretariat and the public.

Another NAO function is to receive and respond to public communications regarding labor law matters arising in another NAFTA country. Each NAO establishes its own domestic procedures for reviewing public communications and deciding what actions to take in response to requests made of it.

The NAOs initiate the cooperative activities of the Commission, with the support of the Secretariat. These include: seminars, conferences, joint research projects and technical assistance in relation to the eleven NAALC Labor Principles, as well as labor statistics, productivity and related matters. The NAOs can also engage in direct bilateral and trilateral cooperative activities.

5. NAALC Objectives

The seven objectives of this Agreement are to: 

1. improve working conditions and living standards in each Party's territory;
2. promote, to the maximum extent possible, the Labor Principles set out in Annex 1;
3. encourage cooperation to promote innovation and rising levels of productivity and quality;
4. encourage publication and exchange of information, data development and coordination, and joint studies to enhance mutually beneficial understanding of the laws and institutions governing labor in each Party's territory;
5. pursue cooperative labor-related activities on the basis of mutual benefit;
6. promote compliance with, and effective enforcement by each Party of its labor law; and
7. foster transparency in the administration of labor law. 

6. NAALC Obligations

The six obligations undertaken by the Parties under the NAALC are:

Levels of Protection: each Party shall ensure that its laws and regulations provide for high labor standards, and shall strive to improve those standards;

Government Enforcement Action: each Party shall promote compliance with and effectively enforce its labor law through appropriate government actions;

Private Action: each Party shall ensure that persons with a legally recognized interest under its law in a particular matter have appropriate access to administrative, quasi-judicial, judicial or labor tribunals for the enforcement of the Party's labor law;

Procedural Guarantees: each Party shall ensure that its proceedings for the enforcement of its labor law are fair, equitable and transparent;

Publication: each Party shall ensure that its laws, regulations, procedures and administrative rulings of general application are made available;

Public Information and Awareness: each Party shall promote public awareness of its labor law. 

7. NAALC Labor Principles

The core of the Agreement are its eleven Labor Principles which define the scope of labor law coverage under the NAALC. These principles, which the Parties agree "to promote to the maximum extent possible," are the following: 

1. Freedom of association and protection of the right to organize.
2. The right to bargain collectively.
3. The right to strike.
4. Prohibition of forced labor.
5. Labor protections for children and young persons.
6. Minimum employment standards.
7. Elimination of employment discrimination.
8. Equal pay for women and men.
9. Prevention of occupational injuries and illnesses.
10. Compensation in cases of occupational injuries and illnesses.
11. Protection of migrant workers.