International Labor Rights and the Sovereignty Question: NAFTA and Guatemala, Two Case Studies
![handle is hein.journals/amuilr9 and id is 131 raw text is: INTERNATIONAL LABOR RIGHTS AND
THE SOVEREIGNTY QUESTION: NAFTA AND
GUATEMALA, TWO CASE STUDIES
Lance Compa
INTRODUCTION
Worker rights advocates in trade unions, human rights groups, and
other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have played an increas-
ingly important role in promoting internationally established fair labor
standards as a factor in international trade.' Particularly in the United
States, recent developments have widened the scope for action on labor
rights in a transnational economy.' Advocates of international fair labor
standards have challenged the traditional right of countries to address
their labor laws and labor relations as solely internal matters? They
have sought to constrain the right of multinational corporations to imple-
*ment labor policies based solely upon the laws of each nation where
they operate, especially where laws are designed to repress rather than
protect workers,4 and provide a competitive edge in international trade.'
* Director, International Labor Rights Advocates. a legal project of the Inter-
national Labor Rights Education and Research Fund; Lecturer, Yale School of Organi-
zation and Management.
1. See JOHN CAVANAGH El AL., INTERNATIONAL LABOR RIGHTS EDUCATION
AND RESEARCH FUND, TRADE'S HIDDEN COSTS: WORKER RIGHTS IN A CHANGING
WORLD ECONOMY 41-43 (1988) [hereinafter TRADE'S HIDDEN COSTS] (explaining the
origins of the promotion of worker rights in international trade); see generally UNrrE
STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, LABOR STANDARDS AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE
GLOBAL ECONOMY (Stephen Herzenberg & Jorge F. Perez-Lopez eds., 1990) [herein-
after LABOR STANDARDS] (providing a comprehensive introduction to issues of worker
rights in global trade); Terry Collingsworth, American Labor Policy and the Interna-
tional Economy: Clarifying Policies and Interests, 31 B.C. L REV. 31 (1989) (analyz-
iag and defending international labor rights advocacy).
2. See TRADE'S HIDDEN COSTS, supra note 1, at 42.
3. See TRADE'S HIDDEN COSTS, supra note 1, at 54-59 (recommending increased
publication of foreign labor rights violations and the consideration of these violations
when the United States conducts trade negotiations).
4. See TRADE'S HIDDEN COSTS, supra note 1, at 2840 (reviewing repressive
labor laws and practices in Haiti, Chile, South Korea, Guatemala, Taiwan, and South
Africa).
5. Rep. Don J. Pease, Preface to TRADE'S HIDDEN COSTS, supra note 1, at viii](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/amuilr9&div=16&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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International Labor Rights and the Sovereignty Question: NAFTA and Guatemala, Two Case Studies
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