Trade deals expose workers to competition from workplaces with different wage levels and labor conditions. Without strong labor rights and effective enforcement mechanisms, this competition can foster a race-to-the bottom in wages and working conditions at home and abroad.
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) includes the most advanced labor terms in any trade agreement worldwide. USMCA requires countries to ensure their domestic labor laws provide the rights guaranteed in the International Labor Organization’s core conventions. To enforce these protections, the USMCA includes an innovative facility-specific enforcement mechanism, called the Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM), that allows company-level sanctions when workers are being denied their right to organize and bargain collectively.
