Trade deal didn't end anti-union violence in Colombia. What a shock.

Unionists are still being murdered, threatened and forced to work as temps in Colombia despite promises that an 'action plan' would prevent it, according to <a href="http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/sites/democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/files/documents/Colombia%20trip%20report%20-%2010.29.13%20-%20formatted%20-%20FINAL.pdf" rel="nofollow">a staff report</a> by U.S. Reps. <a href="http://georgemiller.house.gov/" rel="nofollow">George Miller</a> and <a href="http://mcgovern.house.gov/" rel="nofollow">Jim McGovern</a>.<br /><br />The action plan -- called the U.S.-Colombia Labor Action Plan (LAP) -- was created in <a href="http://truth-out.org/news/item/16737-the-horrific-costs-of-the-us-colombia-trade-agreement" rel="nofollow">April 2011 to give cover to U.S. politicians</a> who wanted to vote for the job-killing trade deal with Colombia, the most dangerous country in the world to be a union member.<br /><br />Ostensibly the LAP would correct violations of labor rights (like murder and violence) once the trade pact was implemented on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States%E2%80%93Colombia_Free_Trade_Agreement" rel="nofollow">May 15, 2012</a>. It didn't happen. Working conditions for most people in Colombia are worse than they were before the trade deal. (No surprise there.)<br /><br />The failure of the Colombian trade deal portends a similar outcome in Vietnam if the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is approved. <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/08/vietnam-allows-forced-child-labor.html" rel="nofollow">Vietnam, one of the Pacific Rim countries involved in TPP talks</a>, tolerates squalid working conditions, poverty wages and child slavery.<br /><br />Eleven Colombian union leaders were murdered last year. At least that's better than the 22 union leaders murdered with impunity the year before. But threats, assaults, and disappearances are reportedly on the rise, according to the report.<br /><br />Worse, violence is escalating against human rights workers. In the first six months of this year, 37 human rights defenders were murdered in Colombia and 153 were attacked.<br /><br />The so-called benefits of so-called free trade have not flowed to ordinary Colombians. Indigenous people are being thrown off their land. <a href="http://truth-out.org/news/item/16737-the-horrific-costs-of-the-us-colombia-trade-agreement" rel="nofollow">Farmers' livelihoods are threatened</a> by a surge of subsidized agricultural products from the United States. In the port city of Buenaventura, gruesome dismemberments and murders drove 9,000 poor people from their home. Misery and violence prevail.<br /><br />The two congressmen visited Colombia in August to see whether the action plan was working. They arrived in the middle of social unrest:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Colombian farmers took to the streets and went on strike, joined by miners, truckers, public health care workers, students and others. The reasons for the strike given by many included: high fuel prices, expensive agrichemicals, government neglect of rural areas, and the free trade agreement with the United States. </blockquote>They concluded the trade deal has made life worse for most Colombian workers:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">...individuals have been murdered in 2013 and death threats continue. Impunity is still a huge and unaddressed problem. Internationally recognized labor rights are not protected. And in the absence of an effective enforcement system and lax accountability, new forms of indirect hiring and phony unions are proliferating.</blockquote>A Latin American human rights group agreed with the congressmen. Said Gimena Sánche, senior associate with the <a href="http://www.wola.org/news/labor_rights_violations_persist_in_colombia" rel="nofollow">Washington Office on Latin America</a>:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Basic labor protections, including the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, continue to be violated on a national scale...</blockquote>Let's be honest: these so-called trade deals aren't about trade. They're about empowering corporations at the expense of workers around the globe. That's why no one should be surprised the Colombian 'action plan' didn't work. Or that the TPP, if passed, will not have happy consequences for workers. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

anti-union violence Colombia job killing trade deals TPP Trade deal didn't end anti-union violence in Colombia. What a shock.

Unionists are still being murdered, threatened and forced to work as temps in Colombia despite promises that an 'action plan' would ...

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Growing congressional criticism exposes weakness of TPP

Nearly 170 members of the U.S. House of Representatives joined the <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/06/freshmen-house-dems-dont-give-away-our.html">growing chorus</a> of those concerned about a proposed Pacific Rim trade deal that could place American workers and consumers at risk.<br /><br />The bipartisan collection of lawmakers called on U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman to support strong textile protections for U.S. firms as part of the ongoing negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and want to make sure safeguards are included in any proposed deal. <br /><br />House members are particularly wary of the Vietnamese government's stance regarding textile negotiations. This comes on top of reports raised by labor groups about the nation's lack of fair wages, workplace protections as well as human rights violations. The <a href="http://www.paramuspost.com/article.php/20130711123543499">letter</a> sent to Froman said Vietnam wants a new rule that would let it buy textiles from China. Then it could export finished garments to the U.S., duty free. According to the letter,<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">A recent study concluded that if adopted as part of the TPP, this rule would cost more than 500,000 U.S. textile and related jobs and put more than 1.5 million jobs in the textile and apparel supply chains in the Western Hemisphere and Africa in jeopardy.</blockquote>The growing issues surrounding the TPP are only a part of the criticisms arising across several continents. The first round of negotiations for the Trans Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) end in Washington today. Increasingly, <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/07/11/v-print/196435/consumer-groups-fret-as-first.html">critics</a> in the U.S. and Europe are taking the proposed pact to task. They worry consumers will be hurt by a watering down of laws that control everything from food to chemicals.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022867176">shining a light</a> on one deal that has already been approved. She noted that the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea has soared since a trade agreement between the two countries went into effect last year. That undoubtedly is costing good American jobs.<br /><br />All of this brings it back to the problems with such agreements. Too often they are not fair. No one doubts the value of trade, but not if it puts American workers at a disadvantage and American consumers at risk.<br /><br />Stay tuned...

job killing trade deals TAFTA TPP Growing congressional criticism exposes weakness of TPP

Nearly 170 members of the U.S. House of Representatives joined the growing chorus of those concerned about a proposed Pacific Rim trade dea...

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