Home News Benefits Members Officers Stewards Retirees
Committees Forms Store History Contact Us Links
 

 

 

Political Education Committee (PEC)

Pennsylvania Fair Trade Coalition
 
Say NO to the Colombia "Free" Trade Agreement
 
In an unprecedented move, President Bush sent the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement up to Capitol Hill this week, against the strong objections of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leadership.  This is the first time a President has sent a trade agreement under Fast Track in complete defiance of the top leaders of Congress.  Under Fast Track trade authority rules, the House will likely face an up-or-down vote on the Colombia deal before the end of August, and perhaps as soon as this month.

We've seen the results that past "free" trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA have had on our country -- jobs lost, communities devastated, families ruined and left without a chance to achieve the American dream. This is yet another example of a job-killing trade deal that will have damaging consequences at home and abroad.

Contact your representatives today, and ask them to oppose the Colombia FTA. Be sure to leave your home address and to ask for a response. Here's how:

Contact your member of congress by phone. A handful of calls from your district can make the difference. Let them know you are watching. Call (202) 224-3121 and ask the capitol switchboard operator to connect you to your member's office. There's a sample script below.

Contact your member of congress by email. Both the AFL-CIO and Change to WIN have launched email campaigns opposing the Colombia FTA. To participate, click on the links above, enter your address, and send an email directly to your congressperson. You can also download a full sized poster by clicking here, and put it on a bulletin board at work, school, or a public place.

Contact your member of congress over the internet. Visit www.congress.org to find out who represents you. Type in your zip code, click on representative, and hit the "contact" tab on the top right. You will be directed to a website form. Cut and paste the sample message below, and be sure to leave your address and ask for a response letter.

Sample Message:Subject: Say NO to the Colombia Free Trade Agreement

Dear Congressional Representative:

I am writing to urge you to oppose the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that the Bush Administration has sent to Congress under fast track.

This trade agreement comes at a huge cost for Americans and Colombians alike, including major job loss, the decimation of family farmers, increased immigration and destruction of the environment. This agreement is modeled off much of the same flawed language found in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). We can only expect the results of the Colombia FTA to be the same.

For Americans, it means more losses in jobs and exports, decreased living standards for middle-class families, and a weaker domestic manufacturing base. For Colombians, it means more substandard wages, the destruction of their country's biodiversity, ruined livelihoods for family farmers, and an increased pressure to emigrate.

Colombia remains the most dangerous place in the world to stand up for worker rights. According to the National Labor School, there have been 2,238 assassinations of trade unionists in Colombia since 1991, with over a dozen assassinations already this year.

Please make your opposition to the Colombia FTA heard today. We cannot afford more of these unfair, unbalanced trade agreements, and we should not be negotiating with a country that does not enforce international labor standards and dismisses assassinations of trade union activists.

As a constituent, I urge you to publicly announce your opposition to the Colombia FTA. Please send me a letter and let me know will vote against this flawed trade agreement.

Sincerely,

Your Name
Your Address

__________________________

Need more information? You can find background on the Colombia FTA in earlier talking union posts here and here .

Additional talking points:
 
  • The Columbia Fair Trade Agreement represents a continuation of the Bush Administration's failed trade policies, an agenda that has cost the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania over 185,000 manufacturing jobs, since 2000.
  • Not one U.S labor, environmental, faith or consumer group has endorsed the Colombia FTA.  These organizations all understand American companies are closing down and setting up shop across our borders to take advantage of sub-standard wages and labor laws, off shoring loopholes and lax environmental regulations.
  • Colombia is the most dangerous place in the world to advocate for worker rights.  Over the past 20 years, more than 2200 Colombian unionists have been assassinated. And of the 144 unionists killed worldwide last year, 78 were Colombian.  That's eight more than were killed in Colombia the year before.
  • Trade isn't "free" when thousands are killed for standing up in the workplace, or when we destroy the most biodiverse regions on the earth.  It isn't free when we lose thousands of Americans jobs so corporations can pay substandard wages across the border. These prices are simply too high.
  • America has the largest and most robust market in the world, and if we open it up to other countries, we should expect them to play by the same rules we do, on a level playing field.
  • The Colombia FTA is modeled after much of the same flawed language found in NAFTA and CAFTA, which resulted in major job loss, environmental degradation, decimation of family farmers and increased immigration.
  • New environmental laws are desperately needed in Andean countries, including Colombia, to allay rapid destruction of the upper Amazon basin, which is the most biodiverse area on the planet.
  • Benjamin Franklin said the definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over, and expecting different results.  That is exactly what we are doing with our current trade policy.

 

Teamsters Endorse Obama - Hoffa Says Obama Issues Resonate With Teamsters - 02/21/08

By Doug Cunningham

The Teamsters union has endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president just before crucial primaries in Ohio and Pennsylvania, states rich with blue-collar voters. Teamsters President Jim Hoffa .

[Hoffa]: “We believe that he’s speaking to issues that resonate with our members. He’s talking about calling up the president of Mexico and the prime minister of Canada when he becomes president and reforming NAFTA. I think that’s important. He’s talking about fairness in the tax system; he’s talking about universal health care. He’s talking about a lot of issues that are important to us.”

Hoffa says the Teamsters Obama endorsement means tens of thousands of workers in the upcoming key primary states of Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania being mobilized and urged to vote for the Illinois senator. Hoffa says this endorsement isn’t about being against the other Democratic candidate.

[Hoffa 2]: “This is an endorsement of Obama and it really is not about Hillary Clinton. It’s not anti-Clinton.”

Obama also picked up the endorsement of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Wednesday.

 

Chairperson:  Dave McCaslin

Members:

  • Ricardo Veruete

  • Elaine Whitehill

  • Patricia Preslovich

 

Please contact us if you have any concerns or information about upcoming elections or legislative votes

 


Created and Maintained by Local 8 Webmaster
Copyright © 2006  Teamsters Union Local No. 8. All rights reserved.
Revised: 05/14/08.