US unions to campaign against US-Colombia FTA, businesses to lobby in favor

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Colombia Reports

US unions to campaign against US-Colombia FTA, businesses to lobby in favor
Wednesday, 15 June 2011 15:39
Adriaan Alsema

United States labor unions are preparing an intensive campaign to try to stop the pending free trade agreement between the U.S. and Colombia, several media reported Wednesday.

According to political weblog The Hill, the country's largest union federation will organizes several events in the hope Congress will reject the agreement with Bogota. The U.S. union will receive support from Colombian labor unions, who will send representatives to Washington to talk about the situation of labor rights workers in the Andean nation.

According to both The Hill and Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) on Tuesday will release a report on Telefonica, a major phone provider in Colombia, which the union says will show problems with the trade deal. The next day, the AFL-CIO has planned a advertisement campaign against the trade pact.

On Thursday, Colombian lawmakers and the presidents of the AFL-CIO and the CWA will hold a press conference in which they will talk about the ongoing violence against labor rights workers in Colombia.

Read more: http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/17002-us-unions-announce-intensive-campaign-to-stop-us-colombia-fta.html

[Citizen Worker]

1. Notice to democrats: I will be watching the voting on these slave trade agreements and if you vote

for them I will not vote for you regardless of how evil the other. That means Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell.

[Lasher]

2. I wish they would take a minute or two to mention the impact on the US middle class.

It seems that everyone who opposes FTAs is doing so only in the interest of those from the other country.

[starroute]

3. The Chamber of Commerce is pushing for it, of course

The Chamber was a major player in the passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement in 2005 (see first item below), and they're bringing the heavy guns out again now. Quite frankly, I'm not sure that press conferences and "events" can balance out the Chamber's intensive one-on-one lobbying.

http://www.uschamber.com/press/releases/2005/july/us-chamber-hails-final-passage-dr-cafta

The Chamber has spearheaded advocacy efforts on DR-CAFTA both in Washington and at the grassroots level for more than two years, building a coalition of 650 businesses and associations, sponsoring events in select cities across the nation with leaders from Central America and the Dominican Republic and hosting fly-ins and meetings with policy leaders on Capitol Hill. The Chamber also researched and authored economic impact studies for 15 states analyzing how DR-CAFTA would affect local economies and job growth.

Leading up to the votes in the Senate and House of Representatives, the Chamber's DC lobbying team and eight regional offices organized dozens of meetings in members' districts and rallied DR-CAFTA supporters to lobby their own members of Congress on the importance of the deal.


http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/06/obama-trade-deals-get-big-push-from-business-lobby--/1

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce unveiled a lobbying effort today designed to win the votes for three foreign trade deals -- one House district at a time. . . .

"It will be great to go in and sit down with a member of the Senate or the House ... and pull out a computer and say, 'Look here,'" said Chamber CEO Thomas Donohue. Localized information derived from the database has been welcomed by lawmakers "as if manna from heaven," he said.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Ghastly, ruthless assurance from the Chamber's Donohue, in your 2nd link:

~snip~
The White House threw a monkey wrench into the drive to pass the three trade deals recently by insisting that money be included for the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which helps workers who lose jobs as a result of trade.

Donohue said negotiations between the White House and congressional Republicans on renewing TAA have been productive, and the Chamber is likely to support a deal considered to be imminent. He credited new White House chief of staff William Daley and Trade Rep. Ron Kirk for their assistance.

"I think they're very committed to this," Donohue said of the White House, while acknowledging that they are "under a lot of pressure."

Then it will be all about winning the votes in Congress -- not an easy thing when lawmakers face pressure back home to stop companies from sending jobs overseas. The effort focuses on convincing those lawmakers that there are more jobs to be gained through increased exports than lost.

The opposition to it is from from witnessing the effects of CAFTA. No more should be needed to come to a conclusion this should NOT be repeate in any form.

Glad to learn William Daley could arrive in time to help ram it through, regardless of the known effects on the working population both here and in the other countries.

Thank you for your links.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Unions Speak Out Against The Colombia Free Trade Agreement

Unions Speak Out Against The Colombia Free Trade Agreement
Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 1:25PM

A group of union representatives and congressman called upon the president today to delay the advance of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. They feel that the president Obama’s Labor Action Plan is a first step, but they want to ensure that workers and trade unionists in Colombia are protected by more than just words on a piece of paper.

The speakers feel that Colombia is the most dangerous place in the world to be a union member. In the last 25 years, more than 2,850 trade unionists have been killed, 51 of them were murdered just last year. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) said, ” this is something that the congress of the United States cannot ignore, and before we give American preference to another country for trade arrangements, we need to ask if this is good for American workers and good for American values. The Columbian Free Trade Agreement does neither.”

President of the Communications Workers of America Larry Cohen already has the support of 14 congressman as he looks to send a signed letter to president Obama within the next week asking him to delay the proposed legislation.

http://www.talkradionews.com/news/2011/6/16/unions-speak-out-against-the-colombia-free-trade-agreement.html

[0rganism]

6. lessee... unions vs. chamber of commerce... i wonder who will win?

cos, ya know, safety of labor rights organizers is a matter of real importance to the US Senate.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Colombia violating FTA labor agreements through union reprisals: US Union

Colombia violating FTA labor agreements through union reprisals: US Union
Monday, 20 June 2011 12:08
Tom Heyden

Vale Coal Colombia has been violating the Labor Action Plan between the United States and Colombia, a requisite of the pending free trade agreement, through threats and reprisals against unionists in the northern department of Cesar, according to U.S. trade union United Steelworkers (USW).

In a letter to Vale Coal Colombia President Zenaldo Olivera, as well as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and several top U.S. officials, USW's International President Leo W. Gerard lambasted recent retaliations against trade unionists at Vale's El Hatillo coal mine in Cesar department.

Colombian trade union Sintramienergetica informed USW that workers at the mine organized a union in early June but that the company "unlawfully refused to recognize and bargain with that union" and "immediately proceeded to take reprisals against the workers in retaliation for their union support."

Gerard also pointed out that "the majority of the workers at El Hatillo are not employed directly by the company but rather through so-called 'bolsas de trabajo,'" allowing them to be deprived of "a wide range of rights." This would appear to violate the Labor Action Plan signed by U.S. President Barack Obama and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on April 7, 2011.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/17084-colombia-violating-fta-labor-agreements-through-union-reprisals-united-steelworkers.html