#tlot #tcot #teaparty #union #iww #occupy #ows #p2 #p21 U.S. Government Takes Historic Action to Enforce Labor Rules in Trade Agreement with Guatemala http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Global-Action/U.S.-Government-Takes-Historic-Action-to-Enforce-Labor-Rules-in-Trade-Agreement-with-Guatemala Today, for the first time ever, the U.S. government announced that it will begin the formal consultations that are used to resolve trade disputes in the area of labor rights enforcement. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it will finally move forward to arbitration in the long-running dispute with the government of Guatemala regarding whether or not Guatemala is meeting the labor commitments of the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA or CAFTA). In announcing the decision, the USTR stated that the goal is to improve conditions that workers face every day. The AFL-CIO welcomes today’s announcement by the U.S. government to resume the arbitration process with Guatemala, to ensure that the government of Guatemala will live up to the very basic commitments it made to effectively enforce its own labor laws. This decision comes after a string of broken promises and missed deadlines on the part of the Guatemalan government. These broken promises have left workers behind and have contributed to the lack of decent work and security that has driven desperate families to seek refuge for their children in the United States...