This is most troubling for the Colombian government as it made a big
push in the spring of 2007, headed by Colombian Vice-President
Francisco Santos himself, to plead their case for a Free Trade
Agreement (FTA) largely on the basis of their claim that these
allegations against the former DAS chief were without merit.

Moreover, all of this comes even as U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary
Locke publicly stated that "Colombia needs to address the issue of
violence against union leaders before the U.S. Congress votes on a free
trade agreement with the South American nation." See, Story.

Recently I came across the article The Ugly Truth Behind Organic Food and it was one of the few places where I've seen a well thought out piece related to the facts concerning organic labor implications.  As someone that has been working with food and agricultural workers around the world producing for companies like Wal-Mart, Dole, and DelMonte, I have heard workers over and over again talk about the labor rights violations in the fields.  And generally speaking the workers are treated the same on conventional and organic farms and processing facilities.  

Here is an excerpt from the Ugly Truth Behind Organic Food:

Solar panel installation may produce good jobs here. But producing those panels involves dangerous chemicals. The Washington Post recently reported that a supplier to solar panel maker Suntech Power dumped poisonous silicon tetrachloride, a byproduct of polysilicon manufacture, onto fields in Henan Province in China, rather than recycling it.

For those who are unfamiliar, the AGOA is a part of U.S. legislation and significantly liberalizes market access to the US for 37 designated Sub-Saharan African countries. This acts as a catalyst for economic growth by encouraging governments to open their economies and build free markets. US Congress passed AGOA as part of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, and President Bill Clinton signed it into law May 18, 2000. In August 2002, President George W. Bush signed amendments to AGOA that expanded preferential access for eligible sub-Saharan African counties.