Murder Doesn't Matter Under U.S. Trade Deals, AFL-CIO Reveals [View all]

[mother earth]

Excerpts taken from:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/22/fast-track-trade_n_7113412.html

Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO, testified to that claim at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on legislation to grant President Barack Obama so-called fast-track authority to cut at least two new enormous trade agreements with Pacific Rim nations and the European Union. It appears to be the first time anyone has revealed such a stance on the part of a U.S. government that has been touting its efforts to improve wages and working conditions among its trading partners, relying in part on trade agreements.

But Trumka charged that the labor standards included in those trade deals are poorly enforced, and that before he would back the White House’s push for the Trans-Pacific Partnership or the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, he wanted to see tougher labor provisions that could be enforced.

“When you say, ‘Oh these are some standards, they’re better than no standards,’ we were told by by the [United States Trade Representative] general counsel that murdering a trade unionist doesn’t violate these standards, that perpetuating violence against a trade unionist doesn’t violate these agreements,” Trumka said, directing his remarks to Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who backs the deals.

Trumka pointed specifically to the Colombia trade pact that was signed in 2006, but passed by Congress in 2011. Trumka said that even after the Obama administration crafted an agreement to tighten labor protections four years ago, some 105 labor organizers have been killed, and more than 1,300 have been threatened with death.

“Excuse me. Excuse me if I’m not willing to accept that standard.” Trumka said.

The Senate Finance Committee is taking up the fast-track legislation Wednesday, and the House Ways and Means Committee is expected to do the same Thursday. Fast track, or Trade Promotion Authority, as it is formally known, allows the administration to sign an agreement, then get it passed by Congress with expedited procedures, no filibusters, and no amendments. If lawmakers don't like parts of a deal, their only choice is to vote yes or no.