<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/opinion/united-auto-workers-reject-the-tpp.html?_r=1" class="">http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/opinion/united-auto-workers-reject-the-tpp.html?_r=1</a><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class="">
<h1 itemprop="headline" id="headline" class="headline" style="font-size: 2rem; line-height: 2.25rem; font-weight: 500; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin: 0px 0px 10px; -webkit-font-feature-settings: 'kern' 1;">United Auto Workers: Reject the TPP</h1><div id="story-meta-footer" class="story-meta-footer" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); padding-top: 14px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); padding-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div style="margin: 0px 45px 0px 0px; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;" class=""><time class="dateline" datetime="2016-04-04" itemprop="datePublished" content="2016-04-04" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">APRIL 4, 2016</time></div><div style="margin: 0px 45px 0px 0px; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;" class=""><time class="dateline" datetime="2016-04-04" itemprop="datePublished" content="2016-04-04" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br class=""></time></div><div style="margin: 0px 45px 0px 0px; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;" class=""><time class="dateline" datetime="2016-04-04" itemprop="datePublished" content="2016-04-04" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="14" data-total-count="14" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><span style="font-weight: 700;" class="">To the Editor:</span></p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="188" data-total-count="202" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">American families devastated by the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs and lower wages would be dumbfounded by Eduardo Porter’s March 30 Economic Scene column, “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/business/economy/nafta-may-have-saved-many-autoworkers-jobs.html" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">The Jobs Nafta Saved</a>.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="329" data-total-count="531" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Germany, Japan and other countries continue to have strong domestic auto industries while also paying livable, middle-class wages. American corporations take advantage of the North American Free Trade Agreement’s extraordinary investor protections, weak labor standards and low wages to outsource hundreds of thousands of jobs.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="544" data-total-count="1075" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">A fourth of American manufacturing workers make less than $11.91 an hour. America is in a vicious cycle pitting American wages versus the threat of jobs moving to Mexico at lower wages. Mr. Porter neglects to discuss why wages are so low in Mexico. Company unions there are more aligned with employers than with workers. Repressive policies keep Mexican workers from organizing in a meaningful way, maintaining wages and working conditions at very low levels, as the United States State Department’s <a href="http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/236914.pdf" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">Mexico 2014 Human Rights Report</a> concludes.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="221" data-total-count="1296" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Apologists for Nafta often support the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Yet even TPP advocates project that the manufacturing trade deficit will increase by over $55 billion and produce 121,000 fewer manufacturing jobs by 2030.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="127" data-total-count="1423" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">That’s why we should reject the TPP and enact trade policies that raise wages and improve working conditions here and abroad.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="15" data-total-count="1438" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">DENNIS WILLIAMS</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="30" data-total-count="1468" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">President, United Auto Workers</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="7" data-total-count="1475" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Detroit</p></time></div><div class="story-meta-footer-sharetools" style="margin-top: 0px; display: flex; align-items: baseline; align-self: center;"><div id="sharetools-story-meta-footer" aria-label="tools" role="group" class=" sharetools sharetools-story-meta-footer theme-classic" data-shares="facebook,twitter,email,show-all,save" data-url="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/opinion/united-auto-workers-reject-the-tpp.html" data-title="United Auto Workers: Reject the TPP" data-author="" data-media="" data-description="The U.A.W. president says “we should enact trade policies that raise wages and improve working conditions here and abroad.”" data-publish-date="April 4, 2016" data-share-tools-initialized="1"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/opinion/united-auto-workers-reject-the-tpp.html?_r=1#story-continues-1" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Continue reading the main story</a><span class="visually-hidden sharetools-label" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Share This Page</span><span class="visually-hidden sharetools-label" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;"><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="14" data-total-count="14" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;" class="">To the Editor:</span></p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="188" data-total-count="202" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px;">American families devastated by the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs and lower wages would be dumbfounded by Eduardo Porter’s March 30 Economic Scene column, “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/business/economy/nafta-may-have-saved-many-autoworkers-jobs.html" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">The Jobs Nafta Saved</a>.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="329" data-total-count="531" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px;">Germany, Japan and other countries continue to have strong domestic auto industries while also paying livable, middle-class wages. American corporations take advantage of the North American Free Trade Agreement’s extraordinary investor protections, weak labor standards and low wages to outsource hundreds of thousands of jobs.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="544" data-total-count="1075" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px;">A fourth of American manufacturing workers make less than $11.91 an hour. America is in a vicious cycle pitting American wages versus the threat of jobs moving to Mexico at lower wages. Mr. Porter neglects to discuss why wages are so low in Mexico. Company unions there are more aligned with employers than with workers. Repressive policies keep Mexican workers from organizing in a meaningful way, maintaining wages and working conditions at very low levels, as the United States State Department’s <a href="http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/236914.pdf" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">Mexico 2014 Human Rights Report</a> concludes.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="221" data-total-count="1296" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px;">Apologists for Nafta often support the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Yet even TPP advocates project that the manufacturing trade deficit will increase by over $55 billion and produce 121,000 fewer manufacturing jobs by 2030.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="127" data-total-count="1423" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px;">That’s why we should reject the TPP and enact trade policies that raise wages and improve working conditions here and abroad.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="15" data-total-count="1438" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px;">DENNIS WILLIAMS</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="30" data-total-count="1468" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px;">President, United Auto Workers</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="7" data-total-count="1475" style="margin: 0px 75px 1em; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; max-width: none; width: 570px;">Detroit</p></span></div></div></div></div></body></html>