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In reply to the discussion: At long last, 11-member Pacific trade deal takes effect [View all]Farmer-Rick
(12,697 posts)ONLY Investors (corporations) AND states can dispute......
From the UAW: https://uaw.org/solidarity-magazine/president-nafta-must-work-workers/
The Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions in NAFTA must be eliminated. ISDS gives corporations and investors the right to sue governments that pass laws that affect profits. An ISDS claim sidesteps the countrys legal system and allows an ISDS tribunal to decide the case based on the rules of NAFTA. This process lacks transparency and undermines the whole idea of democracy because corporations are given special powers that put them in the drivers seat above laws and regulations passed by our lawmakers.
The new NAFTA must include punitive duties for labor violations. We cant allow labor violations to be settled using a weak dispute settlement system that fails to hold violators accountable. Taking into account the decades long suppression of labor rights in Mexico, labor violations should be subject to punitive duties, such as tariffs. Labor unions in all three countries should have standing to bring charges of labor abuses regardless of whether the union represents the workers.
This was written in August 2017. I'm pretty sure he didn't get what he wanted in the last paragraph.