Thread: Labor voices on NAFTA highway

P. Hoffa

Stop NAFTA highway from killing jobs

This is what happens when trade pacts pit worker against worker


Labor Voices

Labor Voices columns are written for The News on a rotating basis by United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger, Teamster President James Hoffa, Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney and Michigan Education Association President Iris Salters. The News hopes to provide a forum for discussing workplace issues that are critical to a large segment of Michigan's population, whether or not they are union members. Look for Labor Voices every Friday in The News.


T wo months ago, the Teamsters sent an independent investigative reporter to Mexico to explore the inhumane conditions that drivers there are forced to endure. The findings, which will be released on www.teamster.org and to our membership next month, were startling: Most of the drivers interviewed said they had used illegal drugs to stay awake on the road. Many drivers interviewed said they had been involved in fatal accidents.

What does this mean for Americans? Right now, not much, since the Teamsters successfully lobbied Congress to require Mexican trucks to meet a series of environmental and safety requirements before they can deliver goods in the United States under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

But if the Bush administration has its way, these requirements will mean nothing. Tens of thousands of unregulated, unsafe Mexican trucks will flow unchecked through our border -- a very real threat to the safety of our highways, homeland security and good-paying American jobs.

The Bush administration hasn't given up on its ridiculous quest to open our border to unsafe Mexican trucking companies. In fact, Bush is quietly moving forward with plans to build the massive network of highways from the Mexican border north through Detroit into Canada that would make cross-border trucking effortless.

The plans call for what's known as a NAFTA superhighway -- a combination of existing and new roads that would create a north-south corridor from Mexico to Canada. The NAFTA superhighway would link Mexican ports with U.S. cities, bypassing U.S. entryways. It would allow global conglomerates to capitalize by exploiting cheap labor and nonexistent work rules and avoiding potential security enhancements at U.S. ports.

And Detroit is directly in the path as the busiest border crossing in the United States. Under Bush's plan, it will be the key entry point for Mexican trucks heading to Canada.

If the Bush administration succeeds, American drivers and their families will be forced to share the roads with unsafe, uninsured trucks, and millions more good-paying American jobs will be lost. And just one weapon of mass destruction in an unchecked container will be too many.

The blame does not lie with the Mexican truck drivers. They labor unconscionable hours for meager pay in a difficult struggle to support their families.

Flawed trade agreements that pit worker against worker are the real enemy. Corporations that believe profits are more important than public safety are what we should be fighting, not our exploited brothers and sisters.

NAFTA has been an unqualified disaster for working families. It hasn't lived up to the promises its advocates made in 1993. Instead of creating new jobs, American workers have lost 3 million jobs in manufacturing alone. Instead of creating trade surpluses, America is suffering through the worst trade deficits in its history.

NAFTA doesn't discriminate when it comes to hurting workers. Mexican workers have also suffered under NAFTA. Since its passage, more than a million Mexican farmers have lost their livelihoods. Real wages are also down significantly for workers south of the border. In fact, unfair trade agreements are devastating workers across all of Latin America.

Is it any wonder that illegal immigration is at an all-time high?

Millions of jobs and a $50 billion trade deficit later, Mexican trucking companies could soon enjoy a seamless point of entry directly into Detroit and other communities. It's exactly what large corporations want: Cheap Mexican-made goods driven by poorly paid drivers. And Bush shares these goals.

It's no surprise that the Bush administration is once again placing the insatiable greed of big business over the safety and economic security of Americans.

Labor Voices James P. Hoffa is president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Please e-mail letters to letters@detnews.com.

http://www.americaneconomicalert.com/ne ... ID=2154757

We need to call an immediate end to NAFTA. Can any one tell me how we have benefited from it at all?

Dixie

Originally Posted by Dixie

We need to call an immediate end to NAFTA. Can any one tell me how we have benefited from it at all?

Dixie

The government do anything to benefit us?

NAFTA and the superhighway is about making money for the "elite". There is no benefit to us, expect maybe to bring in more second class, cheap goods (that don't last).

Middle class Americans are of little or no concern to these "enterprises".

NAFTA and the superhighway is about making money for the "elite". There is no benefit to us, expect maybe to bring in more second class, cheap goods (that don't last).

Middle class Americans are of little or no concern to these "enterprises".

YEP

Dixie run an experiment please. Post a letter to your representatives and any other rep you feel inclined to make miserable on congress.org
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/

BE SURE to post it so other readers can see your letter. Enlarge upon what you have said here that we should immediately withdraw from NAFTA. If you feel inclined add to it and the rest of the alphabet agreements.

I want to see if it will remain posted. I did that. It was pulled shortly after hitting Graham with it but I also stated we were in a de facto war with Mexico. I want to see which is the hot button they absolutely do not want to get published.

Great idea xanadu. I do believe I will also take your advice and see what happens.

Okay, here is what I sent:

I have been reading considerable information on the NAFTA superhighway that is going to be built through the heartland of America, and have become increasingly alarmed.

First, how could this happen without the approval of the American people?

Second, how can our government, on the one hand, claim they are securing our borders, and on the other, sign the SPP agreement, destroying our borders?

Third, how can a government, "of the people, for the people" jeopardize our own unions with such a ridiculous policy?

I urge you to withdraw from NAFTA and the SPP immediately. Secure our borders and stop exploiting the American middle class for profits.

One strange thing tho -- when I went to "send" my letter, for the first time, the website asked me for the "last four digits" of my zip code. I had to go find a piece of mail with that on it. Never had that happen before.

You know, I thought I'd read somewhere that the AFL-CIO was pro-illegals. This must've been the article:

Statement by AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney on President Bush’s Principles for Immigration Reform
January 08, 2004
<snip>
Finally, the president’s plan neither supports nor encompasses existing bi-partisan legislation that would significantly improve the quality of life for immigrant workers and their families. These bills include the DREAM ACT, which would enable undocumented immigrant high school graduates to obtain a college education. In fact, the President’s proposal does not address the issues of undocumented children at all. Nor does it address the AGJOBS agreement, which would provide earned legalization for some 500,000 agricultural farm workers, most of them from Mexico, currently living here.

Reforms to provide legal status to the millions of hardworking, undocumented workers living in this country must be comprehensive and fair. They cannot and should not be designed primarily to provide a steady stream of vulnerable workers for American companies. Instead, immigration reform must provide a certain path to legalization for workers from around the world who are already living and working in the United States; repeal and replace employer sanctions with stiffer penalties for employers who take advantage of workers’ immigration status to exploit them and undermine labor protections for all workers; reform, not expand, temporary worker programs; and reform the permanent immigration system so that those who want to reunite with their families and play by the rules are not penalized by unconscionably long waiting periods.

The union movement supports and will continue to fight for immigration reform that reflects these principles. Only in that manner can we as a nation provide a meaningful promise to immigrant workers now and in the future and safeguard basic rights and protections for all workers in the United States.

Contact Guillermo Meneses 202-637-5018

What the??????

Congress has shown no interest in pulling out of Nafta, especially since they passed Cafta and the North American Agreement is known as Nafta Plus.