[CTC] Machinists Issue NAFTA Warning

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Politico Morning Trade

MACHINISTS ISSUE A USMCA WARNING: The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is reaching out to every member of the House this morning with a warning: If a vote on the new North American trade agreement is rushed through Congress without the text being "greatly improved," the union will oppose it.

The nearly 600,000-member union's letter to lawmakers  <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e64cac75ed70acf53e2e0f27cddcd4b6dbd7f32e167a79dd079e372f4786540f656d3d8f2d4a7be6a96ca1563756e6e3>, a copy of which was obtained by Morning Trade, is the latest in a series of remarks over the past week signaling that labor groups are not yet on board with the new trade agreement. Labor's support could ultimately prove crucial to ginning up Democratic votes for the deal — but despite efforts from both House Democrats and Trump administration officials to make changes to address their priorities, major players like the AFL-CIO <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e64cac75ed70acf56c868a2a899ca335505513712d43339c010adc47a8231df966a1d49ff9e3ba6b55689e2852f5cd6f> and United Auto Workers  <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e64cac75ed70acf553f15b6995999fa430c30cdf1345c8e4413cd2fe74fe6eee1f58d528decb810681bc7df4bfced635>have both made it clear in the past week making that there is still more work to be done.

Pelosi still on a path to yes: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said work will continue this week to negotiate changes to the deal but lawmakers are still waiting on assurances from the administration about the agreement's enforceability.

"We hope to be on a path to yes," she said during a Tuesday evening press conference.

====



Click To View Documents: Machinists Oppose Consideration of NAFTA 2.0 Until It's Fixed 10162019tcs.pdf (700KB) <http://t.congressweb.com/a/?DAWXDEJYUFTTXNF>;


International
Association of
Machinists and
Aerospace Workers
 		
9000 Machinists Place
Upper Marlboro, MD 20772-2687

Area Code 301
967-4500

OFFICE OF THE INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT
 
 

October 16, 2019
 
Dear Representative,

I am writing on behalf of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), to oppose consideration of the renegotiated NAFTA until our long-standing concerns are addressed and our recommendations are incorporated into the final text of the agreement. Acceding to the demands by the Administration to rush a vote on this matter while these issues are ignored would have disastrous results for U.S. workers. It would also constitute a wasted opportunity to fix the fundamental flaws of our nation’s trade policy which continues to cost U.S. workers hundreds of thousands of jobs.

NAFTA 2.0, as currently written, does not come close to reflecting the much-need changes that labor has submitted to USTR. This agreement will not be ready to be considered until its text is changed to reflect our detailed suggestions regarding a number of chapters, including those concerning labor standards, enforcement and rules of origin.  Without such changes, NAFTA 2.0 will continue to foster the continuing outsourcing of U.S. jobs to Mexico, as companies seek to take advantage of workers who do not enjoy fundamental human rights. Among other matters, strong and enforceable labor standards, which are missing from the current agreement, must be included in its text. Other provisions that would remove the incentives to outsource U.S. manufacturing jobs must be addressed. In aerospace and related industries alone, thousands of jobs that could have been created in the U.S. are now contributing to over 40,000 aerospace jobs that currently exist in Mexico.

Mexico’s efforts to address its continued violations of fundamental human rights through the elimination of protection contracts, as well as other violations of workers’ rights, still leave us unconvinced that it has the resources and institutional commitment to effectively implement these much-needed reforms. If the House considers the renegotiated NAFTA at this time, it will lose its leverage with Mexico to honor its commitments to reform its labor law.

Until the text of NAFTA 2.0 is greatly improved incorporating our many recommendations, it should not be brought to the floor for a vote.  If the agreement as currently written is considered, the IAM will have no other choice than to oppose it.

Should you have any questions, please contact Legislative Director Hasan Solomon at (301) 967-4575 or via email at hsolomon at iamaw.org <mailto:hsolomon at iamaw.org>.

Thank you,

Robert Martinez, Jr.
International President



Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.citizenstrade.org/pipermail/ctcfield-citizenstrade.org/attachments/20191016/d5d583b0/attachment.html>