Labor Rights for Development Act of 2018

Bill: 115-s-2307
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2018-01-16
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures

Employment discrimination and employee rights

Government information and archives

Government studies and investigations

Human rights

Labor standards

Labor-management relations

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Public participation and lobbying

Tariffs

Wages and earnings

Worker safety and health

Youth employment and child labor
Latest action: action_date: 2018-01-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Summaries:
action_date: 2018-01-16
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Labor Rights for Development Act of 2018</b></p> <p>This bill amends the Trade Act of 1974 to require a developing country, as a condition for eligibility for the Generalized System of Preferences, to establish in its law and practice:</p> <ul> <li>freedom of association;</li> <li>recognition of the right to collective bargaining;</li> <li>elimination of all forms of compulsory or forced labor;</li> <li>abolition of, and the prohibition of the worst forms of, child labor;</li> <li>elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation; and</li> <li>acceptable conditions of work regarding minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health. </li> </ul> <p>The Generalized System of Preferences is a U.S. trade program designed to promote economic growth in developing countries by providing preferential duty-free entry for certain products from designated beneficiary countries. </p>  <p>The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative shall prescribe regulations necessary for the implementation of this bill.</p>

tv_txt: II 115th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2307 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 16, 2018 Mr. Menendez (for himself and Mr. Brown ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To require countries to comply with certain labor standards to be eligible for the Generalized System of Preferences, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Labor Rights for Development Act of 2018 . 2. Labor standards for beneficiary developing countries (a) In general Section 502(b)(2)(G) of the Trade Act of 1974 ( 19 U.S.C. 2462(b)(2)(G) ) is amended to read as follows: (G) (i) (I) Such country has not established, in law and in practice, the following rights as defined by the International Labour Organization: (aa) Freedom of association. (bb) The effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining. (cc) The elimination of all forms of compulsory or forced labor. (dd) The effective abolition of child labor and the prohibition on the worst forms of child labor. (ee) The elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. (ff) Acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health. (II) Such country does not provide reasonable access to the appropriate United States officials to investigate and monitor compliance with the rights specified in subclause (I), including by ensuring full, independent access to work sites, workers, and managers for the completion of monitoring visits. (ii) During the 5-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of the Labor Rights for Development Act of 2018 , clause (i) shall not apply to any country that— (I) is making continual progress toward establishing laws that are fully consistent with the rights specified in subclause (I) of that clause; and (II) does not have in effect laws that prohibit the exercise of any of those rights. . (b) Publication of information on labor standards The President shall publish, on a publicly available Internet website— (1) annually until the end of the 5-year period described in clause (ii) of section 502(b)(2)(G) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended by subsection (a), a description of the continual progress made by each country toward meeting the requirements of that section; and (2) at the end of that 5-year period, a certification with respect to whether or not each country has met such requirements. (c) Conforming amendments Section 502(c) of the Trade Act of 1974 ( 19 U.S.C. 2462(c) ) is amended— (1) in paragraph (5), by striking the semicolon and inserting ; and ; (2) in paragraph (6)(B), by striking ; and and inserting a period; and (3) by striking paragraph (7). 3. Authorization of appropriations for labor capacity building There are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Labor, for each of the fiscal years 2018 through 2020, $20,000,000 for the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, to be available to assist countries in meeting the labor obligations described in section 502(b)(G)(i)(I) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended by section 2. 4. Regulations The United States Trade Representative, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary— (1) to provide for the receipt of public petitions from any person at any time with respect to the compliance of countries with the labor obligations described in section 502(b)(G)(i)(I) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended by section 2; (2) to provide for a thorough and expeditious review of such petitions by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs of the Department of Labor; (3) to provide a written rationale in the Federal Register supporting any decisions made with respect to such petitions; and (4) to provide for the timely withdrawal, suspension, or limitation of duty-free treatment, at a national or industry level, as appropriate, under title V of the Trade Act of 1974 ( 19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) for violations of the labor obligations described in section 502(b)(G)(i)(I) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended by section 2, by a beneficiary developing country under that title.