Meeting the Free Trade Challenge: Metalworkers and Regional Economic Integration in the Americas

Abstract

The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) poses a significant challenge to workers in the Western Hemisphere. Millions of workers could find their daily lives greatly affected as the economies of as many as thirty-four nations would become more intertwined. The challenge of developing a uniform workers’ response is exacerbated by the diversity of the region’s languages, customs, and institutions.