Trade Deal Negotiators Secretly Meet - We'll Be There

Don't forget: This weekend CWA is rallying against NAFTA on steroids.

On Sept. 9, the latest round of negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership — the biggest Free Trade Agreement in U.S. history — is heading to Leesburg, Va. CWA activists will be rallying with labor, environmental, public health, Internet freedom, consumer, Occupy and other social justice organizations at 3 p.m. outside the negotiation site at the Lansdowne Resort at 44050 Woodridge Parkway in Leesburg.

Right now, the TPP is being negotiated behind closed doors. Only a handful of corporate lobbyists and trade officials have been able to see the details of the trade pact. This exclusive group includes lobbyists from Verizon, who want to make sure that the TPP makes it even easier to offshore call center and tech support jobs. It would create even more incentives for corporations to offshore manufacturing and service sector jobs and put even more pressure on workers' wages, benefits and collective bargaining rights.

The deal now includes Chile, Peru, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Singapore, Canada and Mexico, but Japan has also indicated that it wants to join. To learn more visit www.citizenstrade.org.

It's time for the negotiators to hear from the people who will be most affected by this deal.

There will be a free shuttle bus to "TPP: Out of the Shadows! Rally for Good Jobs, Affordable Medicine and a Healthy Environment" from downtown Washington, DC. It's is scheduled to leave from the Verizon Center at 12:30 p.m. Click here for more information and to RSVP.