Contact Us

Home Page

Unions Urge Probe of China Work Places

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) March 11- U.S. labor groups urged the Bush administration on Tuesday to launch an investigation that could lead to new duties on Chinese goods, saying that country engaged in "brutal suppression" of workers rights.

The action by the AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. labor organization, ups the ante in the national debate over job outsourcing before this year's presidential election.

Mark Barenberg, a Columbia University law professor who prepared the labor group's case, said U.S. trade law requires President Bush to act if China is persistently violating workers rights - such as by failing to enforce its own laws on minimum wage, overtime and health and safety -- and thus having an adverse effect on U.S. workers.

"Those two elements are so strongly and obviously met, I would expect USTR (the U.S. Trade Representative's office) and the president to act. It would be an outrageous violation of the law if they didn't," Barenberg said.

Prospective Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, who has been endorsed by the 13 million-member AFL-CIO, has made the millions of U.S. manufacturing job losses since Bush took office a major campaign issue.

Kerry also has promised a 120-day review of existing trade agreements to ensure other countries "are living up to their labor and environment obligations and that trade agreements are enforceable and are balanced for America's workers."

The AFL-CIO alleges China's labor practices have put downward pressure on U.S. wages and cost "hundreds of thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs."

The petition gives the Bush administration 45 days to decide whether or not to investigate Chinese labor practices.

The administration would have up to one year to complete an investigation and decide what action to take. If Bush rejects the petition, he would have to explain why, Barenberg said.

The AFL-CIO also accused the Chinese government of prohibiting strikes and forbidding workers from organizing unions independent of the government-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions.

The group said Beijing also encourages forced labor through an internal passport system that deprives migrant workers from the country of fundamental rights when they find temporary jobs in factory towns and cities, the AFL-CIO said.

Barenberg insisted the petition was not a protectionist move aimed only at blocking China imports.

"The idea is not to impose a tariff as a long term. The goal is to change labor rights practices in China" by setting up a system of U.S. incentives for Beijing to comply with international labor standards, he said.

Continue With:

03-16-04 Fed: Rates Unchanged, Pledges Patience

03-16-04 Dollar Weakens as Fed Stands Pat on Rates

03-16-04 Feb Housing Starts Fall, Retail Sales Up

03-16-04 Fed Keeps Rates Unchanged at 1958 Lows

03-16-04 Housing Construction Drops in February

03-16-04 Oil Hits One-Year High

03-16-04 Fed Meets, Rates Expected to Stay Steady

03-16-04 Stocks Generally Higher Before Fed Meeting

03-16-04 Survey: More Companies to Hire in 2Q

03-16-04 Housing Starts: Larger-Than-Expected Drop

03-16-04 Top Tax Season Trends

03-16-04 Survey paints a rosier picture for jobseekers

03-16-04 US credit card debt quality better in Jan.

03-16-04 US Feb housing starts see larger-than-expected

Mortgage News