[CTC] More statements on TPP deal

Mon Oct 5 07:02:57 PDT 2015

Statements from the Machinists, CWA, Sierra Club, Rep. Dingell and President Obama….

Machinist Union President Responds to TPP

The following is a statement from International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) International President Tom Buffenbarger regarding terms of the secretly negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership:

“As a labor union whose members build products that are exported all over the world, the IAM has always taken a strong interest in the development and growth of international trade.  We know firsthand that trade done right will improve living standards and strengthen our economy to the benefit of all Americans.  Unfortunately, the recently concluded Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) represents a new low in corporate dominance of our nation’s trade agenda. Despite the rhetoric, this deal represents a step backward in efforts to achieve effective labor standards and human rights.

Negotiated in secret by and for multinational corporations that have no allegiance to any flag or country, the TPP will facilitate the export of American jobs to countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Mexico which lack fundamental labor rights, some of which even engage in slave labor.  Reports of a secret side agreement with Vietnam are especially offensive to anyone who takes internationally recognized labor standards seriously.

Earlier this year, Congress passed Fast Track legislation that laid out an ambitious set of negotiating goals that we, and others, warned were completely unenforceable.  Reports indicate that we were correct in our assumption about the congressional negotiating goals; the U.S. Trade Representative simply ignored them.  Although the agreement has not been made public yet, these reports indicate that, substandard labor standards remain weak and ineffective, currency manipulation has not been effectively addressed, rules of origin for autos are greatly weakened, access to affordable medicines is reduced, post Great Recession financial regulations were made less effective, and secret non-governmental tribunals will interpret and enforce the agreement.

As job and income growth continue to stagnate, Americans know that the economic system is rigged against them and the TPP is just the latest example.  Congress must put the American people first and reject this deeply flawed trade agreement.” 

The IAM is among the largest industrial trade unions in the U.S. and represent nearly 600,000 active and retired members across North America. Visit www.goiam <http://www.goiam/> for more information about the Machinists Union.

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For release Oct. 5, 2015

Contact: Candice Johnson, CWA Communications, 202-434-1168, cjohnson at cwa-union.org <mailto:cjohnson at cwa-union.org>

CWA Statement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Washington, D.C. -- Following is a statement by CWA President Chris Shelton on the announcement that negotiators have reached agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. 

Negotiators from the 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal countries, meeting in Atlanta, have announced an agreement. Despite all the hype, and given what we’ve learned over the past many months and years of negotiations, it’s clear that this TPP remains a bad deal for working families and communities. 

The corporate lobbyists who make up the majority of U.S. trade advisors have been pushing hard for an agreement, mainly because they’ve known all along that what’s in the TPP represents a sweet deal for multinational corporations and the 1 percent.  For the rest of us – U.S. working families and communities, and workers in the other TPP countries – this agreement is bad news.  

Despite broad promises from the Obama administration and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman that the deal would deliver for middle-class families, working people know that TPP would be a disaster. It would continue the offshoring of jobs and weakening of our communities that started under the North American Free Trade Agreement and hasn’t stopped. It would mean labor and environmental standards that look good on paper but fall flat when it comes to enforcement. It’s a corporate dream but a nightmare for those of us on Main Street.  

We’re still very concerned about the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) process. The window dressing changes adopted in Atlanta don’t change the fact that corporations still have an extra-judicial process – ISDS -- to enforce their rights. That’s not the case for labor and environmental standards. Instead, we have labor and environmental standards that look good on paper but fall flat when it comes to enforcement.

And we’re concerned that the protections given to pharmaceutical companies will mean that life-saving drugs won’t be affordable for millions. 

Before the TPP is put to a full vote in Congress, there must be adequate time for full review and discussion. Even on the quickest timetable, a vote that can’t happen until early 2016. Few members of Congress will want to vote in an election year on the mass giveaway of U.S. jobs that this TPP allows.

CWA and our allies will be certain to hold accountable those members of Congress who support this giveaway to the 1 percent.

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Sierra Club: Congress Should Reject Polluter-Friendly Trans-Pacific Partnership
After much controversy, U.S. and Pacific nations strike a flawed trade deal
ATLANTA -- Today, the New York Times reported <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/business/trans-pacific-partnership-trade-deal-is-reached.html?> that the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations reached a trade deal for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The Sierra Club has been working tirelessly to expose the threats of this deal on communities, the environment, and our climate. 
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
"Despite widespread, international opposition, the United States government is moving toward signing a trade deal that threatens our families, our communities, and our environment.
“Amazingly, the public is still not able to see the contents of a completed pact that has been negotiated entirely behind closed doors. But we know enough about the pact to understand that, if passed, it would undermine decades of environmental progress and threaten our climate. The Trans-Pacific Partnership would empower big polluters to challenge climate and environmental safeguards in private trade courts and would expand trade in dangerous fossil fuels that would increase fracking and imperil our climate. The TPP’s environment chapter might look nice on the surface but will be hollow on the inside, and history gives us no reason to believe that TPP rules on conservation challenges such as the illegal timber or wildlife trade will ever be enforced.
"Congress must stand up for American jobs, clean air and water, and a healthy climate and environment by rejecting the Trans-Pacific Partnership."

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Congresswoman Dingell Statement on TPP Agreement

Calls Side Agreement on Currency a Failure for American Workers 

October 5, 2015
Contact:
Hannah Smith
202-315-8446 <tel:202-315-8446>
hannah.smith at mail.house.gov <mailto:hannah.smith at mail.house.gov>

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) released the following statement today on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.

"Early reports indicate that this agreement is a bad deal for the working men and women of the American auto industry and for many other sectors of the U.S. economy. The negotiators' cloak and dagger approach has resulted in Members of Congress and the public being forced to operate on hearsay – not facts – because to date, we have been unable to access the secret web of side agreements and backroom deals that are associated with the latest rounds of negotiations.

"Congress made it clear earlier this year that it is mandatory the Administration provide the Members of Congress and the public with full access to the secret side agreements when they release the text of the main agreement, and we will fight to make sure that requirement is upheld. All impacted parties must have an opportunity to analyze this wide reaching deal and clearly understand the potential impact on every sector. If necessary, we will introduce bipartisan legislation to ensure this occurs.

“It also appears that currency manipulation has not been adequately addressed within the TPP agreement. Currency manipulation – the mother of all trade barriers – has cost 5 million hardworking Americans the opportunity to earn a decent living over the last decades, and nothing that we have heard indicates negotiators sufficiently addressed these issues. The history of side deals in past trade agreements prove they are utterly useless, and we should expect no different in a side agreement on currency. After months of bipartisan urging of the administration to include strong, enforceable currency provisions, their absence in the full text of the agreement makes this a failure for American workers and businesses. We will work with our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do everything possible between now and the time Congress votes on this agreement to fight the devastating impact of this deal.”

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Statement by the President on the Trans-Pacific Partnership

I've spent every day of my presidency fighting to grow our economy and strengthen our middle class. That means making sure our workers have a fair shot to get ahead here at home, and a fair chance to compete around the world. My approach to trade has been guided by a unifying principle: leveling the playing field for American workers and businesses, so we can export more products stamped Made in America all over the world that support higher-paying American jobs here at home.

Over the summer, Democrats and Republicans in Congress came together to help the United States negotiate agreements for free and fair trade that would support our workers, our businesses, and our economy as a whole. When more than 95 percent of our potential customers live outside our borders, we can’t let countries like China write the rules of the global economy. We should write those rules, opening new markets to American products while setting high standards for protecting workers and preserving our environment.

That’s what the agreement reached today in Atlanta will do. Trade ministers from the 12 nations that make up the Trans-Pacific Partnership finished negotiations on an agreement that reflects America’s values and gives our workers the fair shot at success they deserve.   

This partnership levels the playing field for our farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers by eliminating more than 18,000 taxes that various countries put on our products. It includes the strongest commitments on labor and the environment of any trade agreement in history, and those commitments are enforceable, unlike in past agreements. It promotes a free and open Internet. It strengthens our strategic relationships with our partners and allies in a region that will be vital to the 21st century. It’s an agreement that puts American workers first and will help middle-class families get ahead.

Once negotiators have finalized the text of this partnership, Congress and the American people will have months to read every word before I sign it. I look forward to working with lawmakers from both parties as they consider this agreement. If we can get this agreement to my desk, then we can help our businesses sell more Made in America goods and services around the world, and we can help more American workers compete and win.

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