Labor Updates (4/11/08)

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
House “Stops the Clock” on Colombia Trade Pact: The House of Representatives defied President Bush’s push  for the Colombian Free Trade Agreement, voting to "stop the clock" on the pact, reported Ben Pershing on the Washington Post website Thursday. “Congress normally would have only 90 legislative days to vote up or down on the agreement, but [House Speaker] Pelosi noted the House has the right to set its own rules,” reported Mike Hall Wednesday on the AFL-CIO Now Weblog. Though the vote technically just gives the House more time to consider the trade agreement, it’s being widely seen as a strong signal that routine approval of such agreements is no longer guaranteed. Labor has strongly opposed the proposed trade pact because of the Colombian government’s refusal to address continued violence against Colombian trade union members (Battle Over Colombian Trade Pact Escalates 4/10/08 UC). Indian Workers Take Case to UN: Indian workers – dissatisfied with their meeting with the Indian Ambassador to the US in DC in late March (Indian Workers March on Embassy 3/28/08 UC) – took their fight against human trafficking and modern-day slavery to the UN on Tuesday. The workers met with United Nations High Commission for Human Rights Deputy Director, Craig Makhabir, to discuss worker abuses by their employer, Signal International. The protesting workers now plan to split their efforts in New York City, DC and Mississippi, where Signal International is based. - Based on reporting from Jesse Russell of Workers Independent News