A growing number of nations including Canada, Chile, the EU, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the U.S., now include labor rights provisions in their free trade agreements. But we don’t yet know if such links actually empower workers or lead to improved labor rights governance. Moreover, because each government takes a different approach to these agreements, policymakers may be sending confusing signals on how to promote labor rights; what labor rights are internationally accepted core labor rights; and how important these rights are to good governance.