Section
I: Objectives and Obligations Established
by the NAALC
The NAALC was adopted to support the commitments of Canada, the U.S. and
Mexico, inter alia, "to create
new employment opportunities and improve
working conditions and living standards
in their respective territories, and
to protect, enhance, and enforce basic
workers' rights."8
A key premise of the Agreement was that
ensuring a high and increasing level
of labor rights and labor standards
would advance the progress of the three
Parties' economies toward high productivity,
high performance economies.9
Part One of the NAALC amplifies these broad, general goals through adoption of an ambitious set
of ultimate objectives to be furthered by the Agreement. As the primary benchmark against which
to measure the success of the Agreement in accordance with its own terms, these objectives bear
reiterating here. The fundamental goals of the NAALC are to:
- improve working conditions and living standards in each Party's territory;
- promote, to the maximum extent possible, the Labor Principles set out in Annex 1,
- encourage cooperation to promote innovation and rising levels of productivity and
quality;
- 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;
- pursue cooperative labor-related activities on the basis of mutual benefit;
- promote compliance with, and effective enforcement by each Party of, its labor law;
and
- foster transparency in the administration
of labor law.10
There are 11 guiding Labor Principles to which the Parties commit in Annex
1, incorporated by reference in Article
1(b) of the Agreement, to promote through
their respective domestic laws: (1)
freedom of association and the right
to organize; (2) the right to bargain
collectively; (3) the right to strike;
(4) the prohibition of forced labor;
(5) labor protections for children and
young persons; (6) assurance of minimum
labor 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
illnesses and injuries; (11) protection
of migrant workers.11
The subjects addressed in the 11 Labor
Principles are substantially the same
as the topics comprising the definition
of "labor law" applicable throughout
the NAALC.12
|
