WASHINGTON – The Office of the United States Trade Representative and the United States Department of Labor together with their counterparts from the European Commission Directorates General for Trade and for Employment, today joined union and business leaders for the inaugural technical meeting of the transatlantic tripartite Trade and Labor Dialogue (TALD). The TALD was launched under the United States-European Union Trade and Technology Council (TTC).
The topics discussed at the first meeting included:
- sharing concerns related to the future of work and the impacts of the digital economy on workers, such as how best to protect workers in the face of rapid technological change and considerations on the impact of digital economy and trade on workers;
- exploring measures that could proactively shield or support workers, consumers, and businesses from inflationary pressure; and
- charting a path on how to concretely advance cooperation to benefit workers in the global economy.
The TALD was co-hosted by Assistant United States Trade Representative for Labor, Joshua Kagan, Assistant United States Trade Representative for Europe and Middle East Daniel Mullaney, and the United States Department of Labor’s Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs Thea Lee, European Commission Directorate General of Trade and Acting Deputy Director General and Director for the Americas, Agriculture and Food Safety Rupert Schlegelmilch, European Commission Directorate General of Employment and Deputy Director-General for Jobs, Skills and Social Policies Stefan Olsson.
The U.S. social partners in attendance included representatives from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), Communications Workers of America, United Steelworkers, SAG-AFTRA, U.S. Council of International Business, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Information Technology Industry Council, and IBM.
The EU social partners included representatives from the European Trade Union Confederation, BusinessEurope and SME United.
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