Twenty years ago, the idea that labor standards should be part of trade agreements was at best an afterthought. As a candidate for President, then-Senator Obama said he would renegotiate NAFTA, putting labor and environmental standards at the core of trade agreements, and making those standards enforceable like all other trade commitments. The President is living up to that promise through TPP.

HOW TPP PROTECTS WORKERS

TPP helps improve conditions on the ground in TPP countries, by using binding and fully enforceable obligations to:

• Protect the freedom to form unions and bargain collectively.
• Eliminate exploitative child labor and forced labor.
• Protect against employment discrimination.
• Require laws on acceptable conditions of work related to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health.
• Prevent the degradation of labor protections in export processing zones.
• Combat trade in goods made by forced labor in countries inside and outside TPP.