To the Editor:
It was fascinating to read Nicholas D. Kristof's column attempting to use Cambodia as an example of how the proliferation of sweatshops, without basic labor standards, might help workers ("Where Sweatshops Are a Dream," Jan. 15).
He does not mention that the United States textile agreement with Cambodia, which included the very kinds of labor protections that Mr. Kristof seems to lament, expired several years ago. During the life of the agreement, the Cambodian garment industry grew while working conditions dramatically improved.
Mr. Kristof presents poor workers with a false choice between having a job and having human rights. Workers can have both if the president and Congress commit to improving trade policies so that violations of labor rights are subject to the same enforcement mechanisms as commercial complaints brought by multinational corporations.
As a start, we should modernize both Nafta and Cafta to upgrade the weak labor and environmental provisions included in both flawed agreements.
George Miller
Washington, Jan.
16, 2009
The writer, a Democratic congressman from California, is chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor.
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