Press Releases

Miller and McGovern: Reports that Colombia FTA Will Be Sent to Congress Without Labor Rights Action Plan Gravely Disappointing

Reps. George Miller (D-CA) and James McGovern (D-MA) issued the following joint statement today after reports that the Obama administration is intending to send the Colombian trade agreement to Congress without including language that would incorporate requirements from an action plan to improve Colombian workers' labor rights. The action plan was negotiated earlier this year with the Colombian government.

-Reports that the Administration may issue draft implementing language for the Colombia FTA that does not incorporate or even reference its action plan on labor rights are gravely disappointing. Acquiescing to Republican demands to dismiss human rights concerns would give the forces of violence and oppression in Colombia a major victory.

-It would be a huge blow against Colombian workers and their prospects for basic human rights. It would erase a major piece of leverage this country had to ensure change in Colombia. It would allow the policies of impunity to continue, and it would dim the hopes for working people who struggle daily for justice and security.

-While the action plan itself could be stronger and fails to require real, on-the-ground results, the failure to incorporate or even reference that plan in the implementing bill would simply underscore how wrong this agreement is for both Colombian workers' lives and American workers' livelihoods.-