On May 11, 2009, the U.S. Department of State sent a letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to inform them of the Administration’s priorities for action on treaties currently before the Committee.
Sad to say that the ILO Convention on Freedom of Association and the Right to Organize (No. 87) did not make the list of treaties for which the Administration is seeking Senate action.
For an Administration that promised change, one would have liked to see the Obama State Department seeking Senate approval of this most important treaty on worker rights. But alas, like the Bush Administration, the Obama Administration has failed to do so.
In my view, if the Administration is not willing to promote worker rights in the ILO by seeking ratification of the freedom of association convention, then the Administration should stop trying to insinuate worker rights into trade policy and trade agreements.
And if the Administration is not willing to legalize commitments on freedom of association within the United States then why is it asking Colombia to honor the same ILO convention which the United States is not willing to ratify?
One hopes that the new Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Kerry, will ignore the Administration’s disinterest in freedom of association and schedule the Convention for an early hearing.
