NAFTA also known as North American Free Trade Agreement is a trade agreement that governs the regulations of investments between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. On the other hand, NAALC is the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation that came into effect on Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The two agreements (NAFTA and NAAALC) only apply all the countries that signed the agreement (Brower, 2008). Therefore, as per the constitutions of the agreements, all the states that signed the agreements must follow the regulations. The agreements impact citizens of the countries that signed them in several ways. First, they provide the businesses with better access to technologies, materials, and capital across North America (Nolan Garcia, 2011). Moreover, the NAFTA and NAALC countries forgo tariffs on imported materials by other NAFTA member which facilitates trade. Finally, the agreements have created jobs and better selection and prices on consumer goods.
Labor principles are values that were derived from ILO recommendations and conventions which set the standard for international labor on a range of subjects that are related to the world of work, which include occupational safety and health, human rights at work, and employment policies and human resource development(Brower, 2008). The main purpose of the labor principles is to give guidelines for proper conduct at the workplace for employees, employers, and businesses. They impact us by regulating the behaviors at workplace.
The case arose in the situation of an organizing movement by the Communication Workers of America that was trying to create a union at a Sprint Spanish-language telemarketing company in California. In this case, the Mexican NAO complained about the freedom of association and the right to organize in the United States. The NAALC complaint was filed in Mexico since it is the Mexican NAO who was affected by the acts the company and the proceedings were held in the United States since because the company was based in America.
NAO is the National Administrative Offices which may be in every country but distinct among the NAFTA members. Just like NAFTA, NAO is also concerned with the effectiveness of particular measures that are intended to guarantee the freedom of association and the right to organize. It ensures that every individual has the freedom to associate without any intimidation or threat.
There was also a case between NLRB and sprint. In this case, NRLB accused sprint of shutting down the Spanish-language telemarketing company illegally to thwart union from organizing (Brower, 2008). However, although Sprint was found guilty, it did not impact the NAALC proceedings. This is because these were separate cases.
Since the international labor organization allows workers to organize and form unions, the decision of the sprint to close the company to avoid association was not justifiable (Nolan Garcia, 2011). Hence, the most relief that could have been ordered was to reopen the business and recall all the workers.
In a case where one member of the club works for a company that is the subject of an NAALC complaint and alleges serious shortcomings on safety and health, the most relief that should be ordered is to stop the company from operating until it meets the standard of safety and health as required by NAALC.
The best lesson that can be drawn from Sprints NAALC experience is that if laws are not tightened and followed, most companies can violate the rights of employees. I, therefore, advise members related to NAALC to enforce laws and go to court whenever their rights are not met. Following, this case, I believe that NAALC is not toothless and should be taken seriously since through it, employees rights can be observed.
References
Brower, A. (2008). Rethinking NAFTA's NAALC Provision: The Effectiveness of its Dispute Resolution System on the Protection of Mexican Migrant Workers in the United States. Ind. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev., 18, 153.Nolan Garcia, K. A. (2011). The Evolution of United StatesMexico Labor Cooperation (19942009): Achievements and Challenges. Politics & Policy, 39(1), 91-117.
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