After six years of litigation, the Arbitral Tribunal has ruled in favor of Guatemala in the labor dispute with the US which took place within the framework of CAFTA-DR.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Economy:
Guatemala, June 26, 2017.The final report from the Arbitral Tribunal published today states that the three claims presented by the United States of America were declared without merit, these being:
Demands have been made for the U.S. Department of Labor to form an arbitration panel against the country over the lack of progress in labor matters.
From a press release by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO):
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the largest trade union center in the U.S., in conjunction with the largest unions of Guatemala as a gesture of appreciation over the lack of labor rights protection under the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA, for its acronym in English), today sent a letter to the U.S. Labor Department, the U.S. Trade Representative , and the ministers of labor and economy in Guatemala, in which they called for an arbitration panel to be reinstated. The "Implementation Plan" was signed by the two governments on April 26, 2013.
As of May 29 a new Labour Code will come into force as well as the introduction of oral trials in labor lawsuits.
Labor trials are to be conducted orally, and the new Labour and Social Security Code of Nicaragua (Law 815) also allow workers to file their application before a judge verbally.
In the past, resolution of a labor case took six years, but with this new Code that time will be reduced to six months.
Guatemala is preparing a plan to inspect factories in order to avoid a possible arbitration, forced by the US, for non-compliance of labor standards under CAFTA.
The Labour Ministry is preparing a program to inspect working conditions in the textile factories which could take six months to complete. The plan must conform to the standards set by enterprises under the 29-89 scheme (Law on Promotion of Export Activity and Maquilas).