Here's another obscure TPP issue I've been following: Will there be a requirement that TPP countries adopt a minimum wage?
Article 19.3 of the labor chapter says the following:
2. Each Party shall adopt and maintain statutes and regulations, and practices thereunder, governing acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health.5
5 For greater certainty, this obligation relates to the establishment by a Party in its statutes, regulations and practices thereunder, of acceptable conditions of work as determined by that Party.
So what exactly does this obligation mean? It sounds like everyone has to have a statute or regulation that does something with the minimum wage. But what is that something? Could a government pass a statute that says "There shall be no minimum wage"? Could it set the minimum wage at zero? At 1 cent per hour?
