Trade agreements, including the sub-Saharan region’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), must create economic growth that benefits working people and their communities, said U.S. and African labor representatives at a labor stakeholder event and civil society and labor forum this week in Washington, D.C.
Labor and other civil society organizations met ahead of Thursday’s U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) 21st AGOA Forum, which solicits feedback from stakeholders in anticipation of the agreement’s renewal next year. Preparatory events included a labor stakeholders’ event hosted by the AFL-CIO and facilitated by the Solidarity Center, and a Civil Society and Labor Forum hosted by the Wilson Center.
AGOA LABOR STAKEHOLDERS’ EVENT
Welcoming presenters and participants to the U.S. “House of Labor,” which represents 14.5 million union members through AFL-CIO affiliation, AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer and Solidarity Center Board Member Fred Redmond said labor is taking a united stand on worker-centered trade agreements and economic growth.
The AFL-CIO supports a renewed AGOA program that strengthens labor standards and includes effective monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.
“Your work here doesn’t just lift up workers in Africa: It lifts up workers all around the world,” said Redmond, adding that AGOA renewal is an opportunity for labor to promote “a new vision for an economic and trade agenda that spurs inclusive growth to benefit African workers for generations to come.
“The engine of growth should be decent work,” said Redmond.
AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer and Solidarity Center Board Member Fred Redmond welcomes African labor leaders and U.S. government representatives to discuss renewal of the AGOA trade agreement.
The International Labor Organization defines decent work as employment that provides living wages in workplaces that are safe and healthy, with fairness on the job and social protections for workers when they are sick, injured or retire.
“Trade is about people,” Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) General Secretary Emmanuel Ugboaja told U.S. government agency representatives at AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, DC.
NLC General Secretary Emmanuel Ugboaja presents with COSATU President Zingiswa Losi.
Labor’s event provided a high-level forum for discussion on AGOA for African and American union leaders and their allies—including from Nigeria, South Africa and the International Trade Union Confederation-Africa (ITUC-Africa)—with senior representatives of multiple U.S. government agencies that included the U.S. Agency for International Aid (USAID), the U.S. Department of State (USDOS) and USTR.
“We need to partner with people, governments, organizations, the labor movement, civil society around the world to manifest the next economic world order,” said USTR Ambassador Katherine Tai.
USTR Ambassador Katherine Tai makes opening remarks, following USDOS Special Representative for International Affairs Kelly Rodriguez (right).
During a panel discussion on the need for employment-centric trade agreements, labor representatives emphasized that the goal of economic growth and investment policies be good jobs.
“We want the engine of growth to be good, safe jobs—with protections where workers can exercise their fundamental rights,” said ITUC-Africa President Martha Tinny Molema.
ITUC-Africa President Martha Tinny Molema makes opening remarks.
“The new AGOA should support African countries to help them develop robust labor laws and enforcement mechanisms,” said ITUC-Africa Chief Economist Dr. Hod Anyigba, who held up the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMSA) as a starting point for a better trade agreement—including eligibility criteria.
ITUC-Africa Chief Economist Dr. Hod Anyigba with panel moderator Center for American Progress (CAP) President and former U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Patrick Gaspard.
Representing U.S. union support, panel presenter Keturah Johnson, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA International vice president, emphasized the need for global solidarity in demanding employer and government accountability.
“We are the workers. So we should be dictating what [trade agreement] criteria are,” said Johnson.
Association of Flight Attendants-CWA International Vice President Keturah Johnson. Credit: Solidarity Center / Terrance Heath
AGOA CIVIL SOCIETY AND ORGANIZED LABOR FORUM
A panel representing African labor presents at an AGOA Civil Society and Labor Forum on July 24, 2024.
“We are a rich continent with poor people,” said COSATU President Zingiswa Losi at the July 24, 2024, Civil Society and Labor Forum. “Worker rights and collective bargaining must be [at] the center of all trade agreements.”
COSATU President Zingiswa Losi presents at the 2024 AGOA Civil Society and Organized Labor Forum in Washington, DC.
THE UNION SOLUTION
Labor recommendations for improving the AGOA were read aloud at the official AGOA Forum by ITUC-Africa President Martha Tinny Molema on July 25. Unions are demanding that the renewed AGOA include enhancements to advance workers’ rights as defined by ILO conventions, include a mechanism for input from workers and their unions across all aspects of the agreement and include a rapid response mechanism for independent verification of labor violations.
AGOA provides eligible sub-Saharan African countries with duty-free access to U.S. markets for more than 1,800 products, with eligibility criteria that include making continual progress toward establishing the rule of law and enacting policies to reduce poverty, combat corruption, and protect human rights.
Photo credit: Solidarity Center / Terrance Heath