Tag: AFL-CIO

I received an Email on July 6, 2015 about the Trans-Pacific Partnership from the largest federation of unions in the U.S. I have received previous Emails from them regarding this subject and they have been a vocal opponent of the TPP for years. What I found curious about this communication is how it has shifted its goal – from seeking the defeat of the bill to asking the president for revisions that will be good for labor. Now, keep in mind that many individuals and groups have stated that this is an awful trade bill. I have characterized the bill in a previous article as “trash” and attempted to make the point that, no matter how you try to dress it up or make it seem more palatable, trash is still trash.

Shouldn’t it be a trade violation to threaten to move someone’s job to another country? Shouldn’t we negotiate trade agreements that increase people’s wages on both sides of a trade border? These are the kinds of agreements we would make if We the People were negotiating trade agreements with representatives of the working people in other countries. Unfortunately that is not the kind of trade agreements that our current trade negotiation process produces.