| WASHINGTON
- October 22 - A new television ad by the AFL-CIO will call on members of Congress to vote ‘no’ on “Fast Track” trade legislation, saying it will be divisive and a further drain on the faltering American economy. Some Republicans in Congress are pushing for a vote on the controversial trade legislation as soon as this week. The AFL-CIO’s ads began running Sunday night in more than 20 Congressional districts.
Under Fast Track, the President negotiates trade agreements and sends them to Congress for approval, but Congress can only vote them up or down—it can’t amend them. The ads highlight the fact that given the terrorist attacks and economic downturn, now is not the time for Congress to make a hasty decision on Fast Track. The AFL-CIO is part of a coalition of religious, community and environmental groups working to defeat fast track.
Fast Track trade negotiating authority was defeated in Congress in 1997 and 1998 when groups pointed out that despite including hundreds of pages of protections for business interests, the legislation didn’t include any enforceable protections for workers’ rights and the environment. When companies are allowed to exploit workers and the environment in other countries under trade deals, they have an incentive to move jobs overseas where they can profit from that exploitation. The current proposed legislation does nothing to remedy these issues.
“Fast Track would not have passed before September 11, and it’s outrageous that some on Capitol Hill are using this moment to further their own agenda,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. “A half million of America’s working men and women have learned they’re losing their jobs since the tragedy. There couldn’t be a worse time to pass a controversial law that will put job loss on an even faster track.”
NAFTA was passed under a previous Fast Track negotiating authority, which expired in 1994. NAFTA has cost US workers hundreds of thousands of jobs; in Mexico, wages have actually fallen and poverty has increased; and the wages of Canadian workers have dropped below US standards. One agreement that would be subject to Fast Track is the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement (FTAA), which would extend the failed policies of NAFTA throughout most of the Western Hemisphere.
In addition to the television spots, the 13 million member AFL-CIO has organized a grassroots campaign including tens of thousands of telephone calls to members of Congress, an e-activism campaign, and member-to-member contact throughout the country. The ads are part of the AFL-CIO’s continuing educational outreach program to mobilize America’s working families around issues central to their lives and futures.
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