Five Reasons Congress Should Oppose the TPP [View all]

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/28976-five-reasons-congress-should-oppose-the-tpp



There has been a troubling lack of transparency in TPP negotiations, with consultations taking place behind closed doors. If Congress were to grant the president fast track authority, the largest trade agreement in world history might get enacted into law without any meaningful debate.

Five Reasons Congress Should Oppose the TPP
Saturday, 07 February 2015 00:00
By John Logan, Truthout | Op-Ed

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• FIRST, despite presidential promises of job gains, previous FTAs have resulted in lost jobs, stagnant wages, increasing inequality and other negative consequences for workers. On the 20th anniversary of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) estimated that almost 700,000 US jobs had been lost as a direct result of the agreement. (In 1993, President Clinton claimed that NAFTA would create a million jobs in its first five years of operation.)

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• SECOND, several countries involved in the TPP have long violated fundamental labor rights. The worst offender is Vietnam, whose government has refused to allow workers the freedom to form unions. Vietnam's senior advisor on international integration negotiations has stated in negotiations that Vietnam could "not accept (the right to establish unions) requirement."

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• THIRD, even as US workers have lost out, workers in less developed countries have not benefitted from previous FTAs. Indeed, in several cases, these workers have seen conditions deteriorate further. The Colombian government has failed to curb widespread violence against union activists under the 2011 "Labor Action Plan" of the US-Colombia agreement. So far, 73 unionists have been murdered under the agreement.

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• FOURTH, if previous experience is any guide, TPP will likely protect the rights of large investors and corporations at the expense of workers. US Trade Representative Michael Froman insists that won't happen and that TPP's labor chapter will cover child and forced labor, special economic zones, and labor standards, including minimum wages, maximum hours and other workplace conditions.