Settling Trade Related Labour Disputes: FTAs’ Pathways for Greater Social Justice in Globalization

Abstract

Since the conclusion of North African Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, an increasing number of Foreign Trade Agreements (FTAs) have included labour provisions along with specific dispute settlement mechanisms for these provisions. This article analyses how labour provisions have been included in FTAs’ since the early 1990s and critically accesses their suitability and effectiveness in terms of domestic labour reform and trade-related labour dispute settlement. It concludes by evaluating the case for the inclusion of labour provisions in FTAs’ and argues in favour of tailor-made rules suited to the precise reality of countries’ labour markets and regulatory environment. FTAs, labour provisions, sustainable development, ILO, globalization, CPTPP, NAFTA, rule of law, European Union FTAs, dispute settlement