美國在跨太平洋夥伴協定談判中 對勞工權利條款之立場及對我國之影響

U.S. Positions Promoting Worker Rights in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and Their Impact on Taiwan

本文以跨太平洋夥伴協定之談判及簽訂為背景，說明美國與各國談判雙邊及區域自由貿易協定時，如何倡議勞動人權之各類努力，並指出我國應採取之因應作為。除序言及結語外，全文共分四大部分：第一部分說明此協定之演進過程及實質影響，並探討美國參與之動機，以及此協定對我國之重要性。第二部分闡敘美國如何在國際經貿活動中附加勞工權利條款之相關作為。第三部分則根據此協定第19章勞工專章之相關規定，以五項重要之基本勞動人權為主軸，分析美國所採取之立場。最後則針對它歷年來對我國違反這些重要勞動人權之質疑批判等，提出因應之道。

The purpose of this paper is to use the negotiation and signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) to analyze United States government action in promoting worker rights through bilateral and regional free trade agreements. It also offers several proposals for Taiwan to reform its labor laws and practices seen as hurdles it must overcome to join the TPP. Aside from introductory and concluding remarks, the paper is divided into four sections. First, it briefly describes the historical background and motivations behind the TPP, and the importance of Taiwanese participation. Second, it discusses why and how the U.S. government has raised worker rights issues in international trade, investment and other related activities to safeguard domestic labor. Third, it analyzes the positions taken by the U.S. in promoting five fundamental worker rights contained in Chapter 19 of the TPP. Finally, the paper utilizes various critiques contained in the annual State Department issued Country Reports on Human Right Practices as a basis to propose several reform measures for Taiwan to initiate as required by the TPP. It concludes that these reforms not only improve labor rights domestically, but can Taiwan's labor laws and practices conform to international standards.