Trade Promotion Authority and Core Labour Standards: implications for Australia

By Gerard Griffin, Chris Nyland and Anne O’Rourke

Despite the objections of the Coalition parties and the ALP to the inclusion of core labour standards in trade agreements, the draft text of the Australia-United States free trade agreement includes a chapter on labour rights.

This is because the USA, in negotiating trade agreements, is bound by the Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002 (TPAA), which includes the promotion of respect for workers rights amongst its overall negotiating objectives. This article traces the evolution of trade-labour linkage in the USA, then examines the TPAA, and its implications for the trade-labour rights debate in Australia.

(Australian Journal of Labour Law. vol. 17, no. 1, May 2004)