Foreign investor rights – Foreign investors are using some of the 2,600 International Investment Agreements (IIAs) to challenge regulations in the public interest: tobacco controls, mining permits, and hazardous waste regulations, to name a few. Several countries have begun to limit their IIAs so that foreign investors do not have greater rights than those granted under the national constitution. We provide legal analysis to coalitions working in South America and the Asia-Pacific region. Current work:
  • 2012 project on Peruvian investment policy, Alex Herman
  • Investment issues in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA)
  • Foreign investor rights and customary international law, Matthew Porterfield

Tobacco in trade and investment agreements – For over a decade, Congress has prohibited U.S. negotiators from using trade agreements to promote tobacco trade. Yet the past eight U.S. trade agreements expanded market access and gave tobacco companies new forums to challenge tobacco controls. We work with an international coalition that seeks to prevent trade and investment agreements from benefitting the tobacco industry, starting with the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). Current work:
  • 2012 project on tobacco tariffs, Sarah Piazza
  • 2012 project on tobacco services, James Bangasser
  • Threats to tobacco control in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA)

Procurement without sweatshops – Following the lead of universities, a growing number of state and local governments want to stop purchasing apparel (e.g., uniforms for police and athletics) that is made in sweatshops. We work with the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium (12 state and local governments) to develop standards for decent working conditions. Current work:
  • 2012 project on sweatfree procurement, Lloyd Grove
  • 2012 project on living wage standards, Lindsey Scannell
  • Model SweatFree Purchasing Code (May 2012)

New ways to empower workers – As American manufacturing has receded, the institutional voice of working people – organized labor – is facing a crisis of its own. Despite popular support for the idea of collective bargaining, union membership hovers near 7%; many workers are simply excluded from protections of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Organizers are experimenting with new ways to empower workers – often outside of the NLRA process – to improve working conditions and increase access to quality jobs. In the fall of 2012, we will work with Georgetown’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor to identify and support some of these strategies. Potential work:
  • Analyze limits on economic advocacy under the NLRA
  • Identify alternatives to traditional labor organizing
  • Identify how workers with disabilities can organize to meet their needs

WTO limits on domestic regulation – A coalition of countries in the WTO is pushing for limits on government power to regulate service industries (“disciplines”), which would alter the constitutional balance of power between most governments and regulated industries (energy, banking, derivatives trade, hazardous waste, etc.). We work with subnational governments in the United States and inter-governmental networks based in Geneva that seek to moderate these proposals. Recent work:
  • WTO limits on regulation of food derivatives
  • Guide to WTO negotiations on domestic regulation