Independent Labor Secretariat for Fair Trade Deals Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3807 To require that any trade agreement eligible for expedited consideration by Congress include enforceable labor standards and protections, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 17, 2019 Ms. KAPTUR (for herself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. TONKO, Mr. RYAN, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. NORTON, Ms. TLAIB, and Mr. RUSH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To require that any trade agreement eligible for expedited consideration by Congress include enforceable labor standards and protections, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Independent Labor 4 Secretariat for Fair Trade Deals Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3807.IH H3807 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3807 IH SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1 It is the sense of Congress that, with respect to the 2 labor-related provisions of all trade agreements, all parties 3 to such agreements— 4 (1) are obliged to ensure all workers in their 5 territory, regardless of the workers’ citizenship, im- 6 migration status or national origin, the rights and 7 freedoms guaranteed in the eight core Conventions 8 of the International Labor Organization, including 9 the right to strike, as part of the right to freedom 10 of association; 11 (2) are obliged to ensure acceptable conditions 12 of work that cover all workers in their territory, re- 13 gardless of the workers’ citizenship, immigration sta- 14 tus or national origin; 15 (3) should agree that all workers have the right 16 to receive wages sufficient for them to afford, in the 17 region of the signatory country where the worker re- 18 sides, a decent standard of living for the worker and 19 family; 20 (4) should agree the work of all workers in the 21 economy shall be deemed trade-related and therefore 22 subject to the obligations of this chapter to earn fair 23 wages; 24 (5) should agree not to reduce labor standards, 25 provide formal or informal exceptions to any em- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3807.IH H3807 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3807 IH ployer, or fail to enforce such standards as to any 1 obligation covered by the agreement; 2 (6) should agree that a threat, act of intimida- 3 tion, or an act of violence against any worker exer- 4 cising, or attempting to exercise, any of the rights 5 and freedoms protected by the agreement should be 6 considered a violation of the underlying right or 7 freedom; 8 (7) should agree that the failure to investigate 9 any such threat, act of intimidation, or act of vio- 10 lence, or failure to prosecute identified perpetrators 11 of any such threat or act, should be considered a 12 failure to enforce the underlying right or freedom 13 and therefore a violation of the agreement; 14 (8) are obliged to ensure that all trade in goods 15 made, in whole or in part, by forced labor or the 16 worst forms of child labor is banned outright and 17 that no party procures goods made with forced labor 18 or the worst forms of child labor; 19 (9) are obliged to ensure that all persons have 20 appropriate and timely access to tribunals for the 21 enforcement of the party’s own labor laws, without 22 undue delay; 23 (10) are obliged to ensure that domestic laws 24 and regulations provide for adequate and timely ac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3807.IH H3807 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3807 IH cess to labor inspectors from government bodies and 1 unions to seek timely inspections to follow up on al- 2 leged violations of the agreement; 3 (11) are obliged to ensure that no person wish- 4 ing to be protected by this section is excluded from 5 such protections by virtue of being classified as a 6 temporary worker, fixed-contract worker, subcon- 7 tracted worker, independent contractor, or the like; 8 (12) are obliged to ensure that domestic laws 9 guard against employer-dominated unions or unions 10 controlled by political parties, ensuring that unions 11 are responsible to their members and that unions 12 provide members with timely access to union bylaws 13 and collective bargaining agreements; and 14 (13) are obliged to ensure that workers are en- 15 titled to all rights and benefits of their primary work 16 location regardless of their citizenship, immigration 17 status, or national origin, and that adequate effort 18 are made to ensure that workers are provided with 19 access to information in their primary language and 20 in printed format, if requested. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3807.IH H3807 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3807 IH SEC. 3. NEGOTIATING OBJECTIVES RELATING TO THE EN- 1 FORCEMENT OF LABOR-RELATED TRADE 2 AGREEMENT PROVISIONS. 3 Section 102(b)(10) of the Bipartisan Congressional 4 Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (19 5 U.S.C. 4201(b)(10)) is amended— 6 (1) by striking subparagraphs (H) and (I); and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(H) to establish a Labor Secretariat, led 9 and staffed by experienced and qualified experts 10 in labor rights, labor standards, labor econom- 11 ics, or human rights, to— 12 ‘‘(i) address transnational issues relat- 13 ing to labor; 14 ‘‘(ii) monitor and enforce labor-related 15 trade agreement provisions; and 16 ‘‘(iii) provide research relating to the 17 effects of the trade agreement on jobs and 18 communities in the countries covered by 19 the agreement; 20 ‘‘(I) to empower the staff of the Secre- 21 tariat, with respect to the countries covered by 22 the agreement, to— 23 ‘‘(i) visit and monitor workplaces; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3807.IH H3807 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3807 IH ‘‘(ii) interview workers without em- 1 ployer or government monitoring or inter- 2 ference; 3 ‘‘(iii) recommend changes to work- 4 place conditions to comply with labor-re- 5 lated provisions of the agreement as a re- 6 sult of information obtained through such 7 visits, monitoring, and interviews; and 8 ‘‘(iv) observe and assist the officials of 9 relevant agencies or departments of the 10 governments of any such countries in im- 11 plementing and enforcing the labor-related 12 provisions of the agreement; 13 ‘‘(J) to provide that the Secretariat shall 14 have the authority to originate and pursue dis- 15 pute settlements under the enforcement proce- 16 dures of the agreement when it determines that 17 meaningful progress toward the implementation 18 of the recommendations of the Secretariat has 19 ceased or that a signatory to the agreement is 20 persistently out of compliance with one or more 21 of the labor-related provisions of the agreement; 22 ‘‘(K) to require arbitrators presiding over 23 a dispute brought by the Secretariat pursuant 24 to such authority to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3807.IH H3807 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3807 IH ‘‘(i) have expertise in international 1 labor rights and standards or international 2 human rights protections; 3 ‘‘(ii) base their decisions on guidance 4 from the ILO, including in the form of 5 conventions, reports, or recommendations; 6 and 7 ‘‘(iii) ensure that such arbitrators 8 may seek technical assistance or expert re- 9 ports from the ILO for the settlement of 10 such dispute, including by extending the 11 duration of the panel for purposes of ob- 12 taining such assistance; 13 ‘‘(L) to ensure that such arbitrators have 14 the power to impose sanctions on specific work- 15 places, employers, industries, or sectors, as well 16 as on signatory parties as a whole, in the form 17 of suspension of benefits under the agreement, 18 in order to enforce the decisions and ensure 19 that the labor-related provisions of the agree- 20 ment are fully implemented and enforced; 21 ‘‘(M) to provide that no signatory to the 22 trade agreement may have veto power over the 23 activity of the Secretariat or may control, pre- 24 vent, or delay Secretariat activities; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3807.IH H3807 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3807 IH ‘‘(N) to provide a robust enforcement sys- 1 tem, that may also include access to the domes- 2 tic judicial system of a signatory to the agree- 3 ment, to compel action from the Secretariat on 4 behalf of interested parties, including workers, 5 unions, or employers, if the Secretariat has not 6 timely met its obligations under the agreement 7 or if a party declines to suspend benefits as di- 8 rected by the arbitrators; 9 ‘‘(O) to establish a Wages and Standards 10 Working Group— 11 ‘‘(i) to study, review and consider the 12 impact of the trade agreement on wages, 13 benefits, labor rights, working conditions, 14 inequality, disparities and the creation of 15 stable, secure, family-wage order to create 16 a cycle of continuous improvement in the 17 implementation of the agreement; and 18 ‘‘(ii) to monitor and evaluate the work 19 of the Secretariat; 20 ‘‘(P) to establish an Expert Wages 21 Panel— 22 ‘‘(i) to provide advice to the signato- 23 ries of the agreement relating to changes 24 to national wage laws and rates in order to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3807.IH H3807 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3807 IH improve standards of living in the trade 1 agreement region; and 2 ‘‘(ii) to advise the Secretariat with re- 3 spect to allegations that goods or services 4 traded pursuant to the agreement have 5 failed to meet the commitments made in 6 such agreement relating to labor protec- 7 tions; 8 ‘‘(Q) to ensure that migrant workers, re- 9 gardless of immigration status, who are subject 10 to the jurisdiction of any signatory to the agree- 11 ment are afforded the same rights and remedies 12 available to citizens or nationals of such sig- 13 natories under the agreement; and 14 ‘‘(R) to establish transnational standards 15 of employment relations among signatories to 16 the agreement that provide for the establish- 17 ment of transnational unions and collective 18 agreements with common employers and other 19 transnational requirements to ensure that work- 20 ers for supranational employers have the capac- 21 ity to engage in supranational bargaining.’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3807.IH H3807 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS