Part Three: Overview of Operations
- Parts One and Two of the NAALC: Objectives, Obligations and Principles
- NAALC Objectives
The seven objectives of this Agreement 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.
- NAALC Obligations
The six obligations undertaken by the Parties under the NAALC are:
- Levels of Protection: affirming full respect for each Party's constitution, and recognizing the right of each Party to establish its own domestic labor standards, and to adopt or modify accordingly its labor laws and regulations, 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; and
- Public Information and Awareness: each Party shall promote public awareness of its labor law.
- NAALC Principles
The core of the Agreement is its 11 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 (detailed descriptions are contained in NAALC Annex 1):
- Freedom of association and protection of the right to organize.
- The right to bargain collectively.
- The right to strike.
- Prohibition of forced labor.
- Labor protections for children and young persons.
- Minimum employment standards.
- Elimination of employment discrimination.
- Equal pay for women and men.
- Prevention of occupational injuries and illnesses.
- Compensation in cases of occupational injuries and illnesses.
- Protection of migrant workers.
- NAALC Objectives
- Part Three of the NAALC: Commission for Labor Cooperation
In 1994, the first year of operation of the NAALC, the three countries focused on setting up and making operational two NAALC institutions. The national offices to be established by each government within its labor ministry, known as a National Administrative Office (NAO), and the ministerial-level Council. In 1995, the trinational Labor Secretariat was established in Dallas, Texas, U.S.A., and was officially inaugurated on September 26 of that year.
NAALC institutions are both international (the Council and Secretariat) and domestic (NAOs) in scope. Together, they provide an intergovernmental framework for the interaction of the full range of organizations and individuals involved in labor matters in the NAFTA countries: policy makers, administrators, employers, labor organizations, researchers and academics, legal practitioners, worker rights groups, and individuals.
- The Commission for Labor Cooperation
The Commission for Labor Cooperation consists of a Ministerial Council and a Secretariat and is assisted by the NAO of each Party. Created by Article 8 of the NAALC, the Commission is the institutional framework of the NAALC and the focal point of trinational labor cooperation.
- The Council of Ministers
The Council is composed of the cabinet-level Secretary (in Mexico and the United States) and Minister (in Canada) responsible for labor issues in each of the three NAFTA countries. Acting as a single entity, the Council is the governing body of the Commission 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.
- The Secretariat
The Secretariat is created to be the administrative arm of the Council. Its staff is drawn from the three NAFTA countries and 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. The NAALC provides that the Secretariat shall be headed by an Executive Director, chosen for a three-year term, which may be renewed once. The Executive Director appoints, defines the responsibilities of, and supervises the Secretariat staff. The number of staff positions was initially set at 15 (subject to modification by the Council), with equitable proportions of the staff coming from each country.
Secretariat Functions
The Commission's Secretariat has three principal functions, the first of which is devoted to information. Under Article 14 of the Agreement, it undertakes research and analysis and prepares public reports and studies on:
- labor law and administrative procedures;
- trends and administrative strategies related to the enforcement 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; and
- other matters as the Council may direct.
Third, the Secretariat serves as the general administrative arm of the Commission, assists the Council in exercising its functions, and provides such other support as the Council may direct. The Secretariat is meant to enable the Council to carry out a wide variety of initiatives for which general provision is made under the NAALC.
- The National Administrative Offices
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 Secretariat and the public.
The NAOs coordinate the cooperative activities of the Commission. These include seminars, conferences, joint research projects and technical assistance on matters covered by the 11 NAALC Labor Principles, as well as labor statistics, productivity and related matters. The NAOs can also engage in direct bilateral cooperative activities.
Another NAO function is to receive and respond to public communications regarding labor law matters arising in the territory of another Party. Each Party establishes its own domestic procedures for reviewing public communications and deciding what actions to take in response to requests made of them.
- National Advisory and Governmental Committees
Articles 17 and 18 provide for the formation of National Advisory Committees and Governmental Committees to advise each Party on the implementation and further elaboration of the Agreement. The National Advisory Committee may comprise members of the public including representatives from labor and business organizations. The Governmental Committee may comprise representatives of federal and state or provincial governments.
All three countries have established a National Advisory Committee and a Governmental Committee.
Cooperative Activities of the NAOs
During the past four years the NAALC has provided the basis for an extensive program of trinational cooperative activities organized primarily by the National Administrative Offices. Under Article 11 of the NAALC, these activities have the purpose of improving the administration of labor laws, promoting greater understanding of each country's laws, policies and practices, and facilitating the exchange of information related to labor issues.
Each year since 1994 a Cooperative Work Program has been agreed upon by the three NAOs and approved by the Council. The annual programs have included meetings between labor officials of the three countries, joint sponsorship of public conferences and seminars, and specific agreements for sharing technical assistance and training.
The activities to date have addressed three broad issue areas: a) workplace safety and health; b) employment and training; and c) labor legislation and workers' rights. Article 11 also authorizes the Council to address other matters, whenever the Parties so agree. In the occupational safety and health area, activities have ranged from large-scale public conferences on topics such as high-hazard industries to smaller meetings of government officials, exchanges of technical information and expertise, and raining for inspectors. Labor law and worker rights have been the subjects of activities each year, including major conferences such as the one held in 1996 on Industrial Relations in the 21st Century. In regard to employment and training, a wide variety of programs have focused on issues such as women in the workforce, the growth of nonstandard employment, and child labor, which was the subject of two major events in 1997.
Cooperative activities have been carried out in two ways. The majority have been organized by the NAOs, either jointly or separately. Others have been directly assigned to the Secretariat by the Council.
Tables 1 and 2 below demonstrate, since the NAALC came into effect a total of 40 activities were undertaken. Many activities were large-scale events such as trinational conferences (three on occupational safety and health and one on labor law). The early cooperative activities concentrated primarily on occupational safety and health, in part because of the high level of interest among the Parties.
After the first year of implementation, the pace of cooperative activities slowed somewhat, and the focus became more diverse. The nature of the activities also changed, from training sessions and workshops, which dominated the 1994 cooperative program, to government-to-government meetings and large public conferences. From 1995-1997, an average of seven activities per year were organized. Among these were seminars linked to public communications received by the U.S. NAO, covering freedom of association and the right to organize.
In 1996 and 1997 other issues such as child labor and women in the workforce were incorporated more extensively into the cooperative activities work program.
Beginning in 1997 the Secretariat organized an annual conference on incomes and productivity in North America. This has been the primary cooperative activity organized solely by the Secretariat, although it has supported the trinational cooperative work program and participated in most of the activities organized over the past four years.
LABOR COOPERATIVE ACTIVITIES UNDER NAALC, 1994-1998
A. Occupational Safety and Health
Date Activity Location 1994 Feb. 21-25 Training course on “Sampling and Laboratory Analysis of Airborne Contaminants” Mexico City Feb. 22-24 Course on “Principles of Ergonomics” Mexicali, Mexico March Training course on “The use of Synthetic Fibers in the Workplace” April Training course on “Air Sampling Equipment” Mexico City Jun. 13-16 “Technical Seminar on Safety and Health in the Electronics Industry” Albuquerque, NM Jun. 28-30 Course on “Biohazards” Mexico City Aug. 23-25 Training session on “Safety and Health in the Construction Industry” Monterrey, Mexico Aug. 30- Sept. 1 Training course on “Industrial Hygiene” Guadalajara, Mexico Sept. 12-13 Seminar on “Occupational Safety and Health Statistics” Mexico City Sept. 13-15 Training course on “Accident Inspections” Monterrey, Mexico Sept. 20-22 Training course on “Hazard Recognition for Industrial Hygienists” Guadalajara, Mexico Sept. 28-29 “Technical Seminar on Safety and Health in the Construction Industry” Mexico City Nov. 14-17 “Technical Seminar on Safety and Health in the Petrochemical Industry” Edmonton, Canada 1995 Jun. 5-8 Annual Meeting of “Senior Occupational Safety and Health Officials in Canada” Vancouver, Canada Jul. 13 Familiarization Seminar on OSH Mexico City Nov. 7-10 “Construction Study Tour” Dallas, Texas 1996 Mar. 25-26 “Occupational Safety and Health Planning Session” Mexico City Oct. 27-31 NAALC Petrochemical Study Tour on “Preventing Catastrophic Explosions in the Petrochemical Industry in North America” Orlando, FL 1997 Jun. 2-6 “1997 North American OSH Week” 1998 May 18-22 “1998 North American OSH Week” B. Employment and Job Training
Date Activity Location 1994 Jun. 2-3 Technical seminar on “Microenterprises and the Informal Sector” Mexico City Oct. 24-25 Workshop on “Productivity Trends and Indicators” Mexico City 1995 Jun. 21-22 Workshop on “Equality Issues in the Workplace” Mexico City 1996 Apr. 23-24 Workshop on “Continuous Learning and Development in the Workplace” Dallas, Texas Jul. 11-12 Government-to-Government Planning Session on: "Child Labor Conference in Agriculture and Garment Industries" Washington, D.C. Oct. 3-4 Workshop on “Income Security Programs” Ottawa, Canada Nov. 25-26 Tripartite seminar on “Responding to the Growth of Non-Standard Work and Changing Work Time Patterns and Practices” Ottawa, Canada 1997 Feb. 24-25 International conference on “Improving Children’s Lives: Child and Youth Labor in North America” San Diego, CA Feb. 27-28 1997 North American Seminar on Incomes and Productivity (Secretariat) Dallas, Texas Apr. 23-25 Trinational conference on “Women and Work in the 21st Century” Querétaro, Mexico Oct. 15-16 Follow-up conference on “Protecting Working Children in North America: A Shared Responsibility” Ottawa, Canada 1998 Feb. 26-27 1998 North American Seminar on Incomes and Productivity (Secretariat) Dallas, Texas Apr. 1-2 Seminar on “Labor Market Trends and the Role of Governments” Guadalajara, Mexico C. Labor Law and Workers Rights
Date Activity Location 1994 Jun. 26-30 Workshop on “Labor Law and Practice” San Diego, CA Sept. 19-20 Conference on “Labor Law and Industrial Relations” Washington, D.C. 1995 Mar. 27-28 Government-to-government workshop on “Labor Law and Freedom of Association” Washington, D.C. Sept. 20-21 Follow-up workshop on “The Right to Organize and Freedom of Association” Washington, D.C. 1996 Mar. 18-20 Canada-USA-Mexico tripartite conference on “Industrial Relations for the 21st Century” Montreal, Canada 1998 Oct. 29 International conference on “Labor-Management Relations in North American Multinationals: Legal, Cultural and Economic Environments” Washington, D.C. Dec. 7-8 Labor management conference on “Contracting Out, Outsourcing: New Forms of Work, New Employment Relationships” Canada - The Commission for Labor Cooperation