[CTC] Wyden, Brown Announce Support for Renegotiated NAFTA Update

[Arthur Stamoulis]

*For Immediate Release: December 13, 2019*

Contact: Keith Chu (Wyden) 202-224-3789

Rachael Hartford <Rachael_Hartford at brown.senate.gov>/Matt Keyes
<matthew_keyes at brown.senate.gov> (Brown) 202-224-3978



*Wyden, Brown Announce Support for Renegotiated NAFTA Update*

*New Agreement Includes Key Labor Enforcement Provisions Authored by Brown
and Wyden*



*Washington, D.C.* – Today, Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sherrod Brown,
D-Ohio, announced their support for the renegotiated North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that reflects groundbreaking changes achieved by
Democrats after months of negotiations with the administration. Wyden is
ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, while Brown sits on the
Finance Committee and is ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee.



*“I have long said NAFTA was in desperate need of an update to ensure
Canada and Mexico live up to their side of the deal,”* Wyden said. *“The
agreement Speaker Pelosi secured does exactly that. The many improvements
include a new rapid-response mechanism for labor enforcement that Senator
Brown and I advocated for that establishes the strongest enforcement of
labor standards ever written into a U.S. trade agreement. By ensuring that
Mexican workers’ rights are protected, we prevent a race to the bottom and
level the playing field for workers in Oregon, Ohio and across the
country.”*



*“One of my proudest votes was against NAFTA, because I knew it would
encourage multinational corporations to close factories in Ohio and
offshore jobs to Mexico. The agreement President Trump negotiated wasn’t
much better, and I have spent more than a year working to make it more
pro-worker. We fought tooth and nail against the Administration, and with
the support of Speaker Pelosi, Senator Wyden, and the union movement, we
secured significant improvements for workers that President Trump’s initial
agreement left out, namely stronger enforcement.  The Brown-Wyden
anti-offshoring provision is a worker-empowering, corporation-scaring
enforcement innovation that amounts to the strongest-ever labor enforcement
in a U.S. trade deal, and that’s why this will be the first trade agreement
I’ve ever voted for. I’m always going to be straight with American workers
– this is an important step toward a pro-worker trade policy, but it’s not
a perfect agreement. We have a lot more work to do to make hard work pay
off, and one trade agreement alone will not fix President Trump’s economic
policies that put corporations over workers. We must build on the successes
we achieved here and make sure Brown-Wyden is in every trade agreement
going forward to protect American jobs,” *said Brown.



Wyden and Brown announced their support following labor groups’ widespread
praise for their role in strengthening enforcement of labor rights in the
agreement.



*AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka* thanked
<https://aflcio.org/pressreleases/afl-cio-endorses-usmca-after-successfully-negotiating-improvements>
Wyden
and Brown “for standing strong with us throughout this process as we
demanded a truly enforceable agreement.



*United Steelworkers (USW) Union President Tim Conway* praised
<https://www.usw.org/news/media-center/releases/2019/usw-supports-adoption-of-improved-usmca>
the
deal: “[t]he updated draft agreement now has enforcement provisions [for
worker’s rights] that can help make a difference. There is still a great
deal of work to do in terms of implementing, monitoring and enforcing the
provisions, but the base for progress is there.”



USW also recognized Brown and Wyden for their “efforts and refusal to back
down in the face of massive special interest lobbying,” alongside other
Democratic congressional leaders in negotiating updates to NAFTA.



*United Autoworkers* acknowledged <https://uaw.org/statement-uaw-usmca/> Wyden
and Brown’s “tireless work” alongside their Democratic colleagues “who
fought to strengthen its labor standards and enforcement provisions.”



The *Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) *also
praised the work of Brown and Wyden, along with House Democratic leaders,
as “champions for American workers” who “stood strong throughout this long
process.”



The *Communications Workers of America (CWA) *commended
<https://cwa-union.org/sites/default/files/20191213_cwa_usmc_statement_-_shelton.pdf>
Wyden
and Brown on their “persistence” and “leadership” which ensured “new
provisions [in the agreement that] allow for inspections of workplaces
suspected of worker rights violations.”



###

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826
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