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Sandra Polaski joined the Carnegie Endowment in 2002. Her work focuses on international labor policy in the context of trade and development. Until April 2002, she served as the U.S. Secretary of State's special representative for international labor affairs, the senior State Department official dealing with such matters. In that capacity she played a leading role in the development of U.S. government policy and strategies on international labor issues, and integrated those issues into U.S. foreign policy.
Among other responsibilities at the State Department, Polaski served as the lead negotiator in establishing labor provisions in the U.S.?Jordan Free Trade Agreement, considered a model for future agreements. She also represented the U.S. government on labor policy issues at United Nations and International Labor Organization meetings and conducted dialogues on labor matters with numerous developing and transitional country governments. Polaski was responsible for the State Department's innovative "Partnerships to Eliminate Sweatshops" program, which provides $4 million annually in grants to private sector groups to promote corporate social responsibility and good labor standards in workplaces around the globe.
Previously, Polaski was the director of economic and labor law research for the Secretariat of the North American Commission on Labor Cooperation, a NAFTA-related intergovernmental body. Prior to her work in the international labor field, she held leadership roles in several unions in the manufacturing and service sectors, with responsibilities as a strategist, chief negotiator, and organizer.
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