http://www.epi.org/blog/a-nafta-renegotiation-game-changer-until-the-trump-administration-squanders-it/
Since the beginning of his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has railed against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as being a bad deal for working Americans. He promised that if he was elected, he would renegotiate NAFTA and secure a "much better deal for all Americans."
So it's not surprising that earlier this week, the leader of a prosperous country engaged in NAFTA renegotiations demanded changes to increase workers' leverage, provide a bulwark against downward wage pressure, and prevent his country's manufacturing sector from being undercut by weak labor standards. But was this leader Donald Trump? Nope. It was Justin Trudeau of Canada.
Even more striking, the reported change that Trudeau's government has requested to stem downward pressure on Canadian wages is one that beefs up American labor standards. Yes, the low-wage, low-standard country that Trudeau's government is correctly concerned about as they renegotiate NAFTA is the United States.
The requested change is ambitious: Trudeau's government wants an end to so-called "right to work" (RTW) laws in American states. This would clearly be good for American workers. In a nutshell, "right to work" laws have nothing to do with helping people find work—instead they simply ban contracts requiring that workers benefiting from labor union representation pay their fair share for this representation. This ban makes it extraordinarily difficult for workers to join together and form unions in RTW states. As a result, these states have substantially fewer union members and less collective bargaining. The economic evidence shows that RTW laws do not boost employment or economic growth, but do suppress wages.
-- via my feedly newsfeed
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