USW Legislative Director Holly Hart and progressive talk show host Leslie Marshall this week discussed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the ways in which current trade legislation hurts American workers.
The TPP, a NAFTA-style free trade agreement between the United States and eleven other Pacific-rim nations, has been negotiated almost entirely behind closed doors. Details remain murky, but the result is almost certain to devastate American jobs.
“One needs to look at the money and Wall Street and who is going to really benefit from these trade agreements, and it’s not the American worker,” said Hart. Multinational corporations, on the other hand, stand to gain key guarantees that their international investments will remain profitable.
“The U.S. market is the most open market in the world. We already trade with a number of the countries that are involved in the TPP,” said Hart. “Additional countries are countries like Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, where they just found 139 human trafficking victims in a mass grave, where in Vietnam workers make 56 cents an hour, and Brunei where there’s Sharia law.”
Entering into a binding agreement with countries that are willing to subject their workers to these kinds of conditions makes it almost impossible for American workers to compete.
On top of these problems, House Republicans recently stripped out all the language on currency manipulation, trade enforcement, and other provisions that would have helped keep other countries accountable for their bad behavior.
As it stands, the TPP has become an “absolutely massive, convoluted mess,” Hart said. “It’s once again a playing field that’s stacked against the average worker, the average American.”
For the full conversation, click the link below:
Background Materials:
House passes 'fast track' trade bill
USW Condemns House of Representatives’ Exploitation of Firefighters to Pass Fast Track
Resources to Track Trade - Related Job Loss for Your State and District