article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Worker Rights and Labor Standards Trade Act of 1994''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. The Congress makes the following findings: (1) International trade, when fair and open, can serve as an important factor in the economic well-being of nations; but the maintenance of a fair and open world trading system requires the enhancement and active enforcement of national and international trade agreements and laws by all trading nations. (2) As the productivity of our trading partners that are developing countries has risen, the ability of many of these countries to export goods cheaply to the United States has been based, in part, upon the violation of internationally recognized worker rights. (3) The exploitation of workers is an unacceptable means for any country, whether developed or developing, or industry to gain competitive advantage in international trade. (4) Exports to the United States from countries which fail to respect internationally recognized worker rights undermine living and working standards in both those countries as well as the United States, because international corporations can play workers in one country off against those in another with respect to wages and work standards in order to minimize costs. (5) At various times in the 20th century, international agreements and United States policy have explicitly stated that fundamental worker rights and fair labor standards are necessary to the workings of a fair international trading system. (6) The United States and over 160 other member nations of the International Labor Organization are legally obligated to ``endeavor to secure and maintain fair and humane conditions of labor for men, women, and children, both in their own countries and in all countries to which their commercial and industrial nations extend''. (7) For decades, United States trade negotiators, whether serving in Democratic or Republican administrations, have initiated discussions to no avail with ranking officials of the GATT and the International Labor Organization concerning the demonstrable relationship of fundamental worker rights and fair labor standards to prior rounds of multilateral trade negotiations. (8) The right of all workers to certain fundamental rights is affirmed in the following international agreements to which the United States is a party: (A) The United Nations Charter, which states in Article 55 that ``the United Nations shall promote higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development,''. (B) The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states in Article 23 that ``Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment . . . `and that' Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity.''. (C) The United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states in Article 8 that ``No one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labor.''. (D) The Revised Charter of the Organization of American States, which states in Article 31 that ``Member States agree to dedicate every effort to achieve the following basic goals . . . Fair wages, employment opportunities, and acceptable working conditions for all.''. (E) The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade which-- (i) provides in the preamble that relations among countries ``in the field of trade and economic endeavor should be conducted with a view to raising standards of living and ensuring full employment,''; (ii) allows, under Article XX, any country to take action against products of prison labor; and (iii) incorporates by reference Article 7 of Chapter II of the Havana Charter which states that ``the members recognize that measures relating to employment must take fully into account the rights of workers under intergovernmental declarations, conventions, and agreements. The members recognize that all countries have a common interest in the achievement and maintenance of fair labor standards related to productivity, and thus in the improvement of wages and working conditions as productivity may permit. The members recognize that unfair labor conditions, particularly in production for export, create difficulties in international trade, and accordingly, each member shall take whatever action may be appropriate and feasible to eliminate such conditions within its territory.''. (9) The adherence of the United States to the principles referred to in paragraph (5) is reflected in-- (A) the provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 that prohibit the importation of goods produced by forced labor, (B) the provisions of title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (relating to the Generalized System of Preferences) that-- (i) define internationally recognized worker rights as the right to association, the right to organize and bargain collectively, the prohibition of the use of any form of forced or compulsory labor, a minimum age for the employment of children, and acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health; and (ii) prohibit the extension of trade preferences to any developing country that ``has not or is not taking steps to afford internationally recognized worker rights to its workers''; and (C) the provisions of section 231A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, which allow the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to insure, reinsure, guarantee, or finance a project only if the country in which the project is to be undertaken ``is taking steps to adopt and implement laws that extend internationally recognized worker rights . . . to workers in that country.''. (10) Little, if any, progress has been made ``to adopt, as a principle of the GATT, that the denial of worker rights should not be a means for a country or its industries to gain competitive advantage in international trade'', pursuant to section 1101(b)(14) of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF WORKING PARTY ON WORKER RIGHTS. (a) Action by the President.--The President shall seek the establishment in the GATT of a working party to examine the relationship of fundamental internationally recognized worker rights to the articles, objectives, and related instruments of the GATT, particularly the preamble, Article XXIX, and Article XX. (b) Objectives of Working Group.--The objectives of the working group described in subsection (a) would be to-- (1) explore ways in which to link the conduct of international trade to respect for fundamental internationally recognized worker rights; (2) examine the economic impact of competition that is based upon trade distortions that are attributable to the systematic denial of fundamental internationally recognized worker rights; (3) consider and develop information on the incidence and effects of systematic, trade-distorting worker rights practices and ways to address such practices; and (4) establish that it is unjustifiable for any country or any of its industries to seek to gain competitive advantage in international trade through the systematic denial of fundamental internationally recognized worker rights. SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDING COMMITTEE ON WORKER RIGHTS WITHIN THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION. The President shall seek the establishment in the World Trade Organization, when such organization becomes effective, a standing committee to carry out the functions of the working group described in section 3. SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. As used in this Act: (1) The term ``fundamental internationally recognized worker rights'' means ``internationally recognized worker rights'' as defined in section 502(a)(4) of the Trade Act of 1974. (2) GATT.--The term ``GATT'' means the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
summary: Worker Rights and Labor Standards Trade Act of 1994 - Directs the President to seek the establishment of: (1) a working party within the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to examine the relationship of fundamental internationally-recognized worker rights to specified articles of the GATT; and (2) a standing committee within the World Trade Organization to perform the functions of the working group.