U.S. continues labor dispute against Guatemala

   The United States on Friday said the dispute settlement process in the 2011 labor enforcement case brought under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement will not be terminated and will remain suspended for another four months as the United States seeks further progress by Guatemala on its labor obligations under the trade agreement.
   U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman noted steps taken by Guatemala under the 2013 Enforcement Plan, but said the United States has not seen sufficient progress to close the case.
   “We will continue to work closely with the Guatemalan government in these next four months to review the steps taken and assess whether the reforms are leading to concrete improvements in Guatemalan workers’ rights,” he said in a statement.
   On April 26, 2013, the United States and Guatemala signed an 18-point Enforcement Plan outlining actions to strengthen labor law enforcement in Guatemala. Guatemala still needs to pass legislation providing for an expedited process to sanction employers that violate labor laws and implement a mechanism to ensure payments to workers in cases where firms have closed, among other steps that remain to be taken.
   “In the next four months, Guatemala will need to demonstrate that the legal reforms it has undertaken and still needs to undertake are being effectively implemented and leading to positive changes on the ground.  The U.S. government retains the right to reactivate the arbitral panel at any point during the next four months,” the White House said.