III. Secretariat Activities

Some of the issues involved in this study are: liability, insurance coverage, enforcement mechanisms and dispute resolution, and forms of government cooperation. Throughout its investigation, the Working Group will consider the complex issue of the difference in structure of workers’ compensation programs in Canada, Mexico and the United States. In general, Mexico has a national system administered by federal agencies, whereas Canada and the United States have systems established by provincial or state laws and administered by provincial or state agencies.

B. Seminar on Incomes and Productivity, 1997

On February 27-28, 1997, the Secretariat held its first annual Seminar on Incomes and Productivity in North America. This was the first activity focusing on labor economics in North America to involve academic and private sector representatives from the three countries as well as the Commission. Its goals were to improve public awareness, promote dialogue, contribute to public policy formation, and to provide direction for future research. Top level economists from the three NAFTA countries presented papers on common topics, then business and labor leaders gave their reactions. A macroeconomic perspective gave an overview of the general trends in wages, productivity, and competitiveness in North American labor markets; a microeconomic perspective examined the changing employment relationship in the open economy. In subsequent years, seminars will focus on different aspects of the central theme of incomes and productivity in the labor markets of Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The event was organized in collaboration with the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de Mexico, Laval University in Quebec City, the University of Texas at Austin, and Texas A&M University. The authors of the main papers were Dr. Jose Alberro, Consultoría Diseño de Estrategias; Dr. Gordon Betcherman, Ekos Research Associates / Canadian Policy Research Network; Professor Alan B. Krueger, Princeton University; Dr. Ray Marshall, University of Texas at Austin; Professor Norma Samaniego, Universidad Iberoamericana / Santa Fe Consultores; Professor Daniel Trefler, University of Toronto / University of Chicago; and Professor Edward N. Wolff, New York University.

The Secretariat has published the proceedings of the event under the title Incomes and Productivity in North America: Papers of the 1997 Seminar, available in the three official languages of the NAALC.

C. Reports and Studies

The Secretariat continued and expanded its program of comparative research on labor markets and labor law in the NAALC countries. These studies are designed to provide an information base for the Commission and the public by presenting economic data and descriptions of labor law in easily accessible formats.

In addition to this program of basic information, the Secretariat has undertaken studies on specific industries and aspects of North American labor markets, discussed below. In 1997 the Secretariat also began to prepare studies as a follow-up to certain cooperative activities between the countries to enhance the utility of those activities for the three governments and the public.

Comparative Labor Markets Study

The study North American Labor Markets: A Comparative Profile, published in July 1997, provides a comprehensive comparative analysis of trends in the labor markets of the NAALC countries. The study includes four chapters:

• Economic and Social Context,

• The Changing Employment Landscape in North America,

• The Multiple Dimensions of Unemployment, Underemployment and Job Insecurity,

• Earnings, Productivity, Benefits and the Distribution of Income.

The study also provides 75 charts, numerous statistical tables, comparisons of legislated benefits, and notes on the comparability of the data.

The Secretariat will issue such labor market studies biannually. The next edition will include a detailed chapter on labor in the informal sector in each of the countries.

Comparative Labor Law Study

The Secretariat is preparing a comprehensive, three-volume comparison of labor law in the three countries of North America. The study will present the countries’ primary labor legislation in relation to the 11 Labor Principles stated in the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC) and relative to the six Obligations undertaken by the governments with respect to labor law enforcement and administration.

The first volume of the report covers the principles of freedom of association and the right to organize, the right to bargain collectively, and the right to strike.

Standard and Advanced Practices in the Garment Industry

The Secretariat has continued work on this study of labor issues in the garment industry, which provides an overview of its structure and the impact of changing rules of trade on employment, compensation and productivity; as well as the legal frame applicable in the three countries. The study examines strategies used by firms to meet legal standards in this extremely competitive global industry. It also describes advances in human relations policies, work organization, technology, and other practices which have made some firms industry leaders both as producers and as employers.

The Employment of Women in North America

This short study focuses on the participation of women in the labor

forces of the NAALC countries and examines how women are faring in employment, compensation, and other aspects of work. The study grew out of the conference Women and Work in the 21st Century, organized by the Mexican NAO in Querétaro, Mexico, in April 1997.

Topics covered include factors influencing the participation of women in the work force in each country, the distribution of women’s employment by sector and industry, educational levels of the female work force, and unemployment among women in North America. A short chapter compares the pattern of women’s employment in North America with that of women in the European Union

Publication of the study is expected in mid 1998.

D. Publications

Among the principal objectives of the Secretariat is to produce and disseminate information on North American labor issues. During 1997, work in this area was consolidated by the launch of the Commission’s own website and the formalization of publishing and distribution agreements with private and public institutions in both Mexico and the United States, including negotiations for a distribution agreement with the Fondo de Cultura Económica in Mexico City, to be signed in 1998.

The works published this year include: the fourth issue of the Commission’s periodical bulletin Labor in NAFTA Countries; the special study Plant Closings and Labor Rights; the report North American Labor Markets, a Comparative Profile; and the 1996 Annual Report. All of these publications are available in English, French and Spanish, the three official languages of the NAALC. They can also be accessed at the Commission’s web site at www.naalc.org.

General guidelines were drafted to regulate the Commission’s translation and publication processes, and the Secretariat established a network of editors and translators in the three official languages.

E. Academic Cooperation Agreements

In October the Secretariat signed a Letter of Understanding with the North American Integration and Development Center of the University of California in Los Angeles. Through this Letter of Understanding, both institutions agree to "exchange information and maintain ongoing liaisons in areas of mutual interest, and to cooperate from time to time in studies, seminars, conferences, and other educational and academic activities," while recognizing "the need to maintain mutual independence appropriate to their separate status." This agreement adds to the one signed in 1996 between the Secretariat and the Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas-UNAM in Mexico City.

F. Library and Archives

In 1997 the Library completed a detailed legal classification scheme for the Commission’s archives, based on the text of the NAALC. The most important elements of the classification scheme have been integrated in a database structure to ensure efficient retrieval of these public documents. The database will be completed and operational in 1998. At the same time, the Library compiled a glossary of legal terms used in the NAALC.

The Library’s access to information was enhanced in 1997 by the establishment of an intranet tailored to the needs of staff members.

G. Visit to the Secretariat of Canadian Labour Minister Lawrence MacAulay