The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was the first twentieth-century trade agreement to address labour rights. The architects of the original NAFTA believed that newly empowered workers would organize and collectively bargain to gradually achieve higher wages and better work conditions. Moreover, these richer and more productive workers would be increasingly likely to consume a greater amount of goods and services, creating a virtuous circle of trade agreements and labour rights. But what sounds good in theory has not always played out in reality, as Susan Aaronson explains in this video.
