Built from a speech delivered at Columbia University on February 25, 2006

We are told constantly by the political leaders and editorial writers who favor free trade that these trade agreements in themselves alone will build, expand, and fairly distribute wealth. We are told that this broader prosperity will bring democratic reforms, free speech, free association, free elections, peace, and free societies.

This never-ending mantra is just not true. Free trade and the other elements of neo-liberalism or the Washington consensus may "free" corporations -- but not people.

It seems simple to me: democratic reforms, free elections, democracy itself -- requires intentional and continual public attention.

Democracy, freedom of speech and association, and a free press do not automatically flow from free trade.

As Sherrod Brown writes in his book, Myths of Free Trade: "Global economic growth has failed to generate prosperity for the masses.the World Bank has reported that 200-million more people today are living in desperate poverty - on less than one dollar a day - than in 1987. In 1960, before globalization, the most affluent 20 percent of the world's population was 30 times richer than the poorest 20 percent. In 1997, at the height of globalization, the most fortunate were 74 times richer than the poorest."

The passage of NAFTA forced the Mexican government to end subsidies on the growing of corn and beans. So farmers couldn't afford to grow basic foods and workers couldn't afford to buy. And we wonder at the huge increase in immigration in the last ten years.

In fact, real manufacturing wages in Mexico have declined by 9 percent. In the AFL-CIO research before the FTAA Summit in November of 2003 we found that Mexico had lost more than 550 factories to China in 18 months, where wages are 60 cents an hour instead of $2.00 an hour.

Free trade does not create broadly shared prosperity and certainly does not generate freedom.

Unrestrained capital growth and investments in Germany and Japan 70 to 80 years ago led to fascism not democracy.

Increased trade and investment in China after the Pinochet coup in 1973 certainly did not lead to democracy but to brutal repression and a loss of freedom.

Democracy and freedom did not take root in Indonesia as a result of free trade and industrial growth.

China is the country that most convincingly makes my point. As Chinese Democratic activist, Harry Wu, said: "Capitalism must never be equated with democracy. This is a very American belief - making money produces freedom and justice and equality. Don't believe it about China."

Let me again quote Congressman Sherrod Brown: "Nothing much seems to change with the Chinese imprisonment of political prisoners and repression of dissent; persecution of Tibetans; forced abortion and sterilization; execution of prisoners to feed a growing organ-harvesting business.But because there are major profits in China, America's corporate leaders continue to do China's bidding in Washington."

And liberalized trade has certainly not produced on its promises in our country. Real wages for America's workers have been stagnant for 25 years. In the five years after the passage of NAFTA, the State of Georgia lost half of its apparel and textile manufacturing jobs destroying or economically gutting communities like Americus which lost a 300 job Manhattan shirt plant or Blue Ridge which lost a 500 job Levis plant or Rome which cost a 1,000 job denim plant or Waycross which lost a 1,000 job Levi plant where the workers' union and the company had just negotiated a unique and creative solution to carpal tunnel syndrome forming work groups in which the workers rotated the jobs to avoid overuse. Finally, our nation lost three million manufacturing jobs during Bush's first term - more than in the previous 22 years combined.

The foundation of democracy includes free expression, a free press, free speech and freedom of association. Democracy and human rights include the right to freely form labor unions and bargain collectively. Indeed, the right to organize and bargain collectively is asserted in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights three times.

We have lost any effective right to form unions and bargain collectively - an underpinning of democracy - in America. And these rights are under increased pressure around the world.

Human Rights Watch published a 300-page study five years ago documenting the fact that the United States is in violation of internationally accepted human rights standards for failing to protect the rights of workers in America to organize and bargain collectively.

The National Labor Relations Board has documented that over 20,000 workers in America have been fired or victimized trying to excercise their right to form a union every year for the past 10 years.

Corporate driven and fueled globalization is concentrating wealth and constricting freedom.

The Bush appointed NLRB has reversed precedent to remove any real workplace rights for some disabled workers, temporary workers, and graduate workers.

John Sexton and New York University took that opportunity to withdraw recognition and terminate bargaining with the union these workers formed three years before. It is outrageous.

So I salute the grad workers at NYU - at Columbia and at Penn and at Brown and at Yale who continue to fight for the right to organize and bargain, to fight for greater freedom and justice, to fight for more than free markets and free trade, but to fight for free people.

Stewart Acuff is the Organizing Director of the AFL-CIO.

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