[PEN-L:4644] Re: Workplace Democracy Act (Was: Lockout at Diamond Walnut?

[Trond Andresen <Trond.Andresen@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Harold Rennie says

> can the U.S. Congress declare that
> workers in another country come under NLRB jurisdiction?  Isn't this a
> violation of another nation's sovereignty?

Any country may in principle impose conditions concerning how workers
are treated in a plant in another country. Of course, not in the form
of passing laws for that other country, but as a prerequisite for
accepting imports from said plant (country).

The problem is what the WTO says to this. But then, the U.S. has
ignored GATT rules earlier and gotten away with it, so who knows? In
this case, if the U.S. ignores WTO rules, it would be a good thing!

Btw, and as far as I know,  the WTO may accept restrictions against
imports from a specific country on humanitarian grounds for one reason
only - if the products are from prison labor! This seems very arbitrary
- why not child labor, f.inst., which is a much worse problem? Just
goes to show that the masterminds behind the WTO are not too
brilliant..

Trond Andresen

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