The USMCA, an agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada that has replaced the NAFTA and the side agreement on labour (NAALC), represents an important advance on the path of the virtuous link between regulation of international trade and promotion of social rights. The new agreement, in fact, contains chapter no. 23 entirely dedicated to work: here the Parties go beyond the generic list of “principles” contained in the previous NAALC and expressly refer to the principles and conventions of the ILO, thus aiming for regulatory harmonisation between States through international labour law.
The opportunity to deepen the knowledge of this important Treaty with Janice Bellace and Lance Compa, authoritative scholars of labour law, appointed by the US government as members of the panel that has the task of sanctioning the non-compliant parties, is also a chance to reflect on the European economic and social model, as well as on the resumption of international trade relations in the Biden era, with the aim of relaunching the instrument of the social clause at a macro-regional but also at global multilateral level.
L’USMCA, accordo tra Stati Uniti, Messico e Canada che ha preso il posto del NAFTA e del side agreement in materia di lavoro (NAALC), rappresenta un importante avanzamento sulla strada del collegamento virtuoso tra regolazione del commercio internazionale e promozione dei diritti sociali. Il nuovo trattato, infatti, contiene il capitolo n. 23 interamente dedicato al Lavoro: qui le Parti superano la generica lista di “principi” contenuti nel precedente NAALC e fanno riferimento espressamente ai principi e alle convenzioni dell’OIL, puntando così ad un’armonizzazione normativa tra gli Stati attraverso il diritto internazionale del lavoro.
L’occasione di approfondire la conoscenza di questo importante Trattato con Janice Bellace e Lance Compa, autorevoli studiosi di diritto del lavoro nominati dal governo USA quali componenti del panel che ha il compito di sanzionare le parti inadempienti, è anche motivo per riflettere sul modello economico e sociale europeo, nonché sulla ripresa dei rapporti commerciali internazionali nell’era Biden, con lo scopo di rilanciare a livello non solo macro-regionale ma anche multilaterale globale lo strumento della clausola sociale.
Saudi Arabia labour law was devoid of preexistent tools suitable to face the COVID-19 emergency. The legislator promptly reacted to the crisis, issuing a Sr 120 billion (USD 35.2 billion) stimulus package, with Sr 70 billion reserved to the private sector.
The strategy moves on two fronts: provide liquidity to companies (and workers) and avoid mass dismissals. The legislator implements the former goal mainly via a postponement of taxes and fees. For the latter, it introduced a temporary layoff scheme, in some cases supported by a public allowance up to the 60% of the wage.
On top of this, the government implemented several social distancing rules and strongly promoted the smart working.
In these times, marked by profound social and economic transformations, a number of programmatic documents enshrining catalogues of rights and freedoms at work have been compiled. Some started from the idea of a ‘manifesto’ to propose a radical modernization of the dynamics and values of labour law. With this interview series, the Labour Law Community intends to understand the critical reasons of each manifesto for labour law, engaging in a conversation with those who have contributed to their elaboration and dissemination.