A NAFTA-style trade deal that would outsource U.S. jobs and lower wages has been introduced in Congress.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a massive 12-nation trade deal being negotiated in secret with big corporations calling the shots. Worse still, the TPP is being put on “Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority” which means this deal could rush through Congress in a single up or down vote with no debate on the package. On Thursday, Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority for the TPP cleared the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Wisconsin’s own Rep. Paul Ryan. The companion "fast track" bill passed a Senate panel on Wednesday, and now both “fast track” trade bills are ready for action in their individual chambers.
Fast Track of the Trans-Pacific Partnership allows massive trade deals to be negotiated behind closed doors, and tips the balance toward a deal that sells out U.S. workers in order to pad the wallets of corporate CEOs. If Congress passes Fast Track, it would virtually guarantee the passage of trade deals that ship jobs overseas and give corporations more power over our lives.
Have we learned nothing from NAFTA? Bad trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership have outsourced millions of jobs, lowered wages and increased income inequality in our country. The labor movement is standing up and fighting Fast Track for the TPP. Unfortunately, President Obama and some democratic lawmakers support the TPP.
The AFL-CIO has made defeating of Fast Track a top priority, vowing to fight any trade agreement that fails to prioritize the needs of working families and advance shared prosperity in the global economy.
Be sure you contact your state Representatives. Keep Americas' Sovereignty!
Posted by: DaleMarie McKer | 03/08/2016 at 03:13 PM