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On Tuesday, October 17 more than two dozen labor organizations in Mexico, the United States and Canada, together representing several million workers, will jointly file a charge against the United States under the North American Agreement for Labor Cooperation (NAALC), the labor side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The complaint, to be formally filed Tuesday in Mexico by the Frente Autentico del Trabajo (FAT – Authentic Labor Front), charges that North Carolina and the United States are violating NAALC and international law by denying the right to engage in collective bargaining to 650,000 public employees in the state.

Frustration with the lack of collective bargaining and effective voice on the job has led to increasing protests by North Carolina public employees. The most dramatic recent instance was a strike by Raleigh sanitation workers on September 13 and 14.

The NAALC requires the United States, Mexico and Canada to provide for “high labor standards” in their laws, and lists freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining among its core principles. These rights are also required by the conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the labor arm of the United Nations (UN).  But North Carolina’s General Statute 95-98 prohibits collective bargaining by state and local government employees, a clear and direct violation of international law.