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<div class="column"><p class=""><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman,Bold'" class=""><b class="">Machinists Union: Current Text of NAFTA 2.0 Will Not Stop Outsourcing </b></span></p><p class=""><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman,Bold'" class="">WASHINGTON, November, 30, 2018 </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">-- Machinists Union International President </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(1.960000%, 38.800000%, 75.700000%)" class="">Robert </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class="">Martinez Jr. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';" class="">issued the following statement about the signing of the new NAFTA, or USMCA:</span></p><p class=""><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">“Machinists Union members make, maintain, transpor</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">t and service the products that create the
global economy. We know how important the global economy is to our jobs and our
communities. We also know first-hand that trade agreements like NAFTA, which are not fair and
leave workers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico out in the cold, have caused immense pain and
disruption in the lives of everyday working people in all three countries.
</span></p><p class=""><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">“In order to take advantage of manufacturing wages that are held below $3 an hour, U.S. and
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">Canadian companies have moved jobs to Mexico on an unprecedented scale since NAFTA was
implemented. In the case of just one industry, Mexico now employs between 30,000 and 40,000
aerospace workers and has become a major exporter to the U.S. Other industries have also
outsourced work to Mexico to take advantage of its low labor costs derived from suppressing
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">basic workers’ rights.
</span></p><p class=""><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">“The U.S. International Trade Commission has reported that Mexico’s low labor costs in
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">aerospace have contributed to the outsourcing of U.S. work. Recently, yet another aerospace
company, United Technologies in Chula Vista, Calif., announced it will be closing its doors and
leaving 300 workers out of a job. Work that was performed by U.S. workers is already in
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">Mexico. The company has even ‘showcased’ its operations i</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">n Mexico. Other U.S. aerospace
companies like General Electric, Honeywell, Cessna, and many other U.S. companies in
aerospace and other manufacturing industries, as well as, Canadian and European companies,
have also flocked to Mexico.
</span></p><p class=""><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">“The importance of aerospace to our nation’s economy and security cannot be overstated.
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">Aerospace and its related industries are responsible for a significant portion of our exports and
hundreds of thousands of high-skilled, high-paid jobs. The aerospace industry has also led in the
development of new and innovative technologies that have in turn led to new industries. Given
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">the critical nature of aerospace to our nation’s future, the continued outsourcing of U.S.
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">production and technology to Mexico must be effectively addressed once and for all.
</span></p><p class=""><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">“We had hoped that current efforts to renegotiate NAFTA would change this dynamic by
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">addressing outsourcing and incorporating much-needed changes for lifting fundamental human
rights and the standard of living for workers in all three signatory countries. Unfortunately, after
careful review, we conclude that as currently written, and without further changes along the lines
we continue to propose, NAFTA 2.0 will do little if anything to stop the outsourcing from the
U.S. and Canada and the related wage suppression of workers in Mexico.</span></p><p class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';" class="">“Despite some improvements, NAFTA 2.0 continues to maintain the basic flawed template of
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';" class="">past trade agreements. The labor chapter as currently proposed does not come close to meeting
the dramatic changes we believe are needed to end wage suppression in Mexico. Nor is there
adequate language in the text to ensure that whatever standards agreed upon will be effectively
enforced. This is especially true for much-</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';" class="">needed prohibitions of Mexico’s protection unio</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';" class="">ns.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p class=""><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">“When it comes to directly curtailing outsourcing, little or nothing has been proposed with
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">respect to manufacturing. While there remains doubt about its effectiveness, innovative language
has been proposed with respect to autos. Inexplicably, however, outsourcing in other
manufacturing industries such as aerospace, appliances, electronics, machinery, food processing,
textile and apparels and service industries, have apparently been ignored.
</span></p><p class=""><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">“Our future, the future of manufacturing and the future of workers’ lives depends on getting
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">trade policy right. NAFTA 2.0, as currently written, does not represent the fair trade principles
we continue to demand. Consequently, while we will continue to offer our suggestions to the
administration and Congress with respect to improving the text, unless major changes are made
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'" class="">so that outsourcing by corporations seeking Mexico’s suppressed labor costs are adequately
addressed, the IAM cannot support NAFTA 2.0.”
</span></p><p class=""><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman,Italic'" class="">The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) represents 600,000
active and retired members in the North American aerospace, defense, airline, manufacturing,
transportation, woodworking, the federal sector and other industries. Machinists Union
members work at Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, General Electric, United Airlines, Harley-Davidson
and more. Visit </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman,Italic'; color: rgb(1.960000%, 38.800000%, 75.700000%)" class=""><a href="http://goIAM.org" class="">goIAM.org</a> </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman,Italic'" class="">for more information.
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