摘要:The free trade agreements signed during recent years by different Latin American countries recognize some fundamental worker rights, with a view to avoiding disloyal competition based on the reduction of workers’ protection. This article examines in detail the impact of these clauses: how they have been applied, how they work and what concrete impact they have had on work conditions. Finally, the author asks to what extent these clauses have served to bolster the limited effectiveness of these rights in the domestic judicial order.