Problems related to labor and migration that have been created or exacerbated by NAFTA need to be acknowledged so as to implement and enforce sustainable programs for those who have been negatively affected. In order to present fundamental tactics that would improve labor and migration dilemmas, it is necessary to identify the specific problems within each realm. An up to date understanding of each problem and its connection to NAFTA will then require policy makers to restructure existing methods of the NAALC and incorporate new strategies for making proposals more effective. In this section these problems have been identified and a number of solutions have been proposed. The following pages are a summary of these conclusions.
The previous chapters have identified a number of challenges that face labor in the interdependent relationship between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. One problem addressed in this section is NAFTA-related job displacement and how it exacerbates the socioeconomic gap between high and low-skilled laborers. NAFTA has further increased these discrepancies by failing to provide extensive retraining programs. Furthermore, job displacement has triggered an increase in rural to urban migration which has caused rural decay as well as overpopulation and uncontrolled growth in the cities. Such displacement has especially affected cities in the border regions of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Not only have these cities experienced a population boost, but also a strain on their cross-border relationships. These developments are in opposition to what NAFTA's advocates predicted.
These strains have been especially evident in the lack of cooperation across borders between labor unions and labor forces, and are reducing the capability of labor coalitions to challenge labor violations on a cross-border level. Thus, in addition to the incorporation of methods to increase cross-border communication, it is necessary to ensure that the existing NAALC institutions be empowered to monitor labor laws effectively to ensure labor coalitions are able to freely organize on a trinational level. Ideally, the NAALC was created as a tool to protect pre-existing labor standards. Unfortunately, the side agreement lacks effectiveness with regards to its ability to address labor law violations. The major weakness of the side accord is that it obliges each country to only respect and enforce its own labor laws and does not specify a common set of mutually agreed and enforced rights and standards. (1) Without enforced standards and programs, the gap between the high and low-skilled workers within each country will continue to increase, leading to a decrease in economic flexibility, as further described in the chapter by David Cagen.
Therefore, it is clear that with the NAALC already in place, there needs to be a way of making it more effective. According to the labor and institution chapter by Molly Scott and Rebecca Stanton respectively, it is essential to encourage continuous cross-border labor alliances that can collaborate on targeting the key NAALC decision-makers. As Stanton and Scott have said, this cooperation can only be accomplished if existing institutions and governments can effectively monitor labor laws and deliver sanctions to those who violate these laws. More effective enforcement will promote freedom of labor groups to collaborate without the fear that their employers will be able to take illegal measures to prevent their organization. This will pave the way for cross-border labor alliances to freely network with one another and convincingly push governments to address labor concerns. Thus, transnational labor coordination remains a challenging process; nevertheless, the search must continue for strategies that will gather policy makers' support to protect displaced workers.
Along with promoting cross-border labor alliances, it is also essential to create trinational councils and committees of experts which would advise governments to seek ways of meeting the required standards of the improved NAALC. As further described by the policy proposal chapter of the economic section, the establishment of a North American Commission (NAC), in addition to empowering the ECE to enforce labor law violations, is one example of how this can be accomplished. These institutions would thus follow a similar pattern to that of the European Union's Court of Justice, as further mentioned in Margaret Bek's chapter.
Scott also explains the need for NAFTA's policy makers to see the importance in investing in human resource development, which focuses on quality, service, and raising productivity for businesses. If the NAFTA governments invest in their workers, especially through retraining programs, they will benefit from higher productivity, lower unemployment rates, and greater social stability among their working populations. Multinational companies will also benefit from having a more productive and skilled workforce, and displaced workers will have greater opportunities to obtain stable and supportive jobs within the labor market. In addition to the need to invest in the retraining of workers, business investments and related infrastructure supports should be targeted to rural areas so as to curb the need for workers to migrate to the border regions. Once again, modifications will have to be made within NAFTA to create and administer funds that will provide for these investments. From here we can refer to Bek's analysis on the labor side accord and how it can be implemented more effectively by referring to the European Union model with regards to labor and migration.
Bek has shown the European Community deals with the unemployment problems of less developed countries by providing them with compensatory financing, to facilitate both economic and social cohesion. Portions of these structural funds have been used to create new jobs and maintain existing jobs throughout the lesser-developed countries in Europe. Bek points out that with the help of the North American Development Bank and other contributions such as the Tobin tax (mentioned in the policy proposal chapter of the economics section), it is possible to address the needs of displaced workers and those who are forced to migrate to find employment.
Since the NAALC has been implemented into NAFTA, it has not only been structurally inadequate as mentioned above, but also lacks political backing. The NAALC remains a separate agreement, therefore potential new members can choose to either join the side accord or not. This not only opens the doors for new members to violate labor laws and create an unfair environment for competition, but it also makes a clear statement that labor laws are a choice, not a necessity. By entering NAFTA, each government gains access to new markets as well as its related social responsibilities. New members, like their present counterparts, need to assume the responsibility for the well being of their citizens by requiring them to subscribe to the NAALC and its future revisions.
Therefore, in review, this section promotes the following revisions and policy proposals for NAFTA and its side accord, the NAALC: